Enveloping Shadows
by IvyTower
Summary: On a journey across space for a chaos emerald, Team Dark encounter a planet with a new form of intelligent Black Arms. Shadow is informed that he is prophesied to defeat their tyrannical ruler, restoring freedom and allowing the planet to flourish once again. Is Shadow willing to set aside his previous grievances with the aliens and fulfil his destiny?
1. Prologue

_We're still free, for now. Although what use is that when no progress has been made?_

_Crimson's reign still stands strong over the others. In fact, it appears his power increases with every passing moment. The others are too far gone at this point, surely? Yet we're supposed to bring them back to their senses? _

_My will to fight appears to be draining along with the planet itself. Many uprisings have been attempted, yet his empire still stands sturdy, without a single fracture. Members of the resistance are being picked off like flies. With the amount that have been taken down, it has to be a sign that we're all going to submit to the same fate._

_I'm always asking myself why I continue to fight, but I am never able to come to a conclusion. Why do I try to convince everyone that there's always at least a faint glimmer of hope? So I can comfort them? To try and Convince myself everything's okay? I love free will as much as anyone, but, what's the point of fighting for it if you're going to die trying?_

_You'd think the knowledge of the prophecy would raise my hopes up, yet it doesn't at all. It seems my faith in our ancestors is also being swept away into the abyss. After all, if they are as powerful as they say they are, why haven't they got rid of him? In fact they seem to support him, granting him powers not even thought of by anyone else. It would seem they don't appear to care anymore._

_Not to mention the prophecy also came from Daisy. It's not that I don't trust her, it's just she's young and inexperienced, and was unable to complete her training. How am I supposed to know she interpreted it correctly? I'm choosing to ignore it, shoving it into the far corners of my mind. I will not let myself believe in a likely myth._

_If the "Shadow casting down to spill Ruby blood" prophecy is how Daisy saw it, however, then I'll think that maybe all wishes are capable of coming true._

_If some other alien species manage to find this once our species have gone extinct. I'd like to say that, not all of us submitted to Crimson, we waited patiently in the undergrowth for the takeover, but that day would never come._

_At the time of writing this, however, these immortal creatures are wandering the road to death. _

_\- Bramble, a soul slowly rotting_


	2. A Signal Received

**DISCLAIMER**

**IT WOULD BE HANDY IF YOU VAGUELY KNOW THE EVENTS OF THE "SHADOW FALL" AND "TOTAL ECLIPSE" IN THE SONIC UNIVERSE COMICS, AS THIS STORY TAKES PLACE SOME TIME AFTER THESE EVENTS**

**THAT BEING SAID, IT WOULD BE REALLY HANDY IF YOU HAD KNOWLEDGE OF ECLIPSE THE DARKLING, A PROMINENT CHARACTER IN THESE COMICS, AS YOU'LL FIND THE NEW CAST OF CHARACTERS THAT WILL BE INTRODUCED HERE WILL BE VERY SIMILAR TO ECLIPSE.**

**WELP, NOW I'VE GOT THAT OUT OF THE WAY, I'D LIKE YOU TO HAVE FUN READING! I WOULD ALSO APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD LEAVE A REVIEW SO I CAN IMPROVE MY WRITING AND MAKE THESE STORIES MORE ENTERTAINING FOR YOU GUYS!**

* * *

Shadow's ears pricked as he heard a bleep from the central computer. "Please tell me that the machine isn't malfunctioning like last time." He said to Rouge with a slight groan. The previous failure in the system had been a major annoyance, and they had to meet up with Sonic's ship again so Tails could make the repairs. While Knuckles had insisted that the best way to be useful was to scream in everyone faces about how they were wasting time. Shadow didn't exactly see why everyone was so mad when he knocked Knuckles out, it shut him up didn't it? It's not like he was permanently injured.

"No, it's actually receiving a signal!" Rouge exclaimed, her eyes were slightly lit up. "After all these weeks!"

Shadow walked over and leaned over Rouge's chair so he could observe the supposed signal. Among the many controls on the ships panel, which Shadow assumed that 90% of them were there for show rather than having an actual function, there was a glowing image of a Chaos Emerald on the screen. "Where is it coming from?" He asked.

Rouge pressed a few buttons before an image of a planet was displayed. "It appears to have landed on a ..." Rouge broke off as she tried to find a suitable adjective, "very grey planet." After taking a glance at the planet, Shadow came to the conclusion that was probably the best way it could be described. It was just a spherical rock. Shadow couldn't even see any craters or heck, anything mildly interesting.

"Maybe there would be something more interesting if I could zoom in on the picture," Rouge wondered "but for now this probably means it will be easier to find the Chaos Emerald, it will be lying perfectly in the open, and something tells me we aren't going to find any alien life forms."

Shadow acknowledged Rouge's points with a "hmph," before turning around to Omega. The robot was sitting patiently on one of the seats. "What did you find in the storage cupboard?" Shadow asked, hoping that it might just somehow be convenient. Like some sort of magic device that will make the Chaos Emerald appear right in your hand.

"**A tin of beans that is 4 years out of date, a broken tennis racket, and a 6 foot unicorn plush which I have claimed as my own." **Omega reported. Sure enough, out of the corner of Shadow's eye, was a huge pink unicorn with a rainbow mane. He raised his eyebrow in disbelief, but didn't voice his internal thoughts to Omega. If it were anyone else, he'd probably say something sarcastic and patiently wait for natural selection to kill them off. However, Omega was one of the few that was worthy enough to exist despite his.. quirks, as he actually had a useful function.

Rouge made a sound reminiscent of a snort when she turned around and saw the oversized fluffy unicorn. "You're so easy to please, Omega."

Omega shrugged. "**It's cute, therefore I wanted it."**

Shadow sighed. "My biggest concern is that it was on the ship in the first place, this is Tails' ship, so what on Mobius is Tails doing with a unicorn plush in the back storage cupboard?"

Rouge opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again. Clearly she could not find a reason either. Shadow wasn't surprised, it was just another exhibition of Mobians doing things without purpose. All things Mobians invested their time in, such as entertainment, never seemed to get them anywhere. Shadow had been created with an actual purpose, a function to carry out. He was supposed to protect Mobians and help the planet. Yet, what was the point in his purpose if the Mobians never really do anything that makes a lasting impact?

Although, could he really blame them? Mobians were never even _given _a purpose. They are just _there. _With no idea how they even got here. How are they not in pursuit of this knowledge? How are they happy not knowing their ultimate goal in life? Shadow just couldn't _understand._

He remembered when he voiced his thoughts to Rouge, and she had dubbed what he said as an "existential crisis" and didn't take it very seriously. He was almost hurt that Rouge dismissed him like she did, as if he were some ridiculous child, yet he strangely admired her. The fact that she never questioned why she was alive and was happy living with absolutely nothing guiding her, was fascinating to him. However, it also terrified him, if he lived without a purpose he'd have no reason to exist, what would he do? Why would he live? Without a purpose, he was _nothing._

"You okay there, hon?" Rouge asked, suddenly breaking Shadow's train of thought. "I said I'm about to land this thing and that you should take a seat."

Shadow nodded and turned to sit next to Omega. Why did he have to overthink all the time?

He turned to the window to stare out into space, but then immediately wanted to slap himself. He had already told himself not to look out there! He was hit with the expected wave of longing and misery. This caused a queasy feeling in his stomach that made him wish he was lying down in the comfort of his own home.

_Home._

Mobius wasn't his home. As if the homesickness he was feeling now wasn't evident enough. The scenery of space was bringing him back on the ARK. Back where life was a lot simpler. He was surrounded by people that actually _cared _about him. People that were willing to look past his dangerous powers and help him understand ways of life. On Mobius, however, it was more like he was an animal in a zoo, made to be observed from a distance. He supposed it might be his fault, after all, he knew he didn't act as 'nice' as other people. It was at times like this when he reflected that he was reminded of how much he valued Rouge and Omega's companionship, it reminded him of being with...

"_I'm begging you, Shadow."_

Oh no, he wasn't going down that road again. He must have visibly shuddered as Omega's red eyes were narrowed. "**Query: Are you all right?"**

**"**I'm fine." Shadow responded, a little more snappy than he had intended.

* * *

Shadow suddenly felt the ground beneath the ship. It appeared they had landed on the strange planet. He now let himself look out the window. Indeed, it was a lot like the original image presented. The ground was just grey, bare rock. He wished he could of describe it in a more interesting fashion, but he couldn't.

"Well, looks like we've landed on Planet Depression." Rouge remarked opening the doors. The three were hit with a sudden coldness that chilled their bones to the core.

Despite this, Rouge laughed slightly as she grinned at Shadow. "Looks like this planet was made for you! It's dark, cold, and depressing!"

Shadow was too busy shivering to come up with a suitable remark, although one thing remained certain. He wanted to get the chaos emerald as soon as possible so he could leave already.

"Let's just get this over with."


	3. Mysterious Migraine

Rouge put her hands on her hips, her arms were visibly shaking from the cold. "Where do we start?"

Shadow supposed that was a good question, for he himself had no idea where to start. Everything was literally just.._ rock. _There was nothing to give them even the slightest indication of where they were supposed to go.

"**That way?**" Omega suggested, pointing to his left, it could have been any direction really but they might as well start somewhere.

Rouge sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not?" She said as she started to walk off at a fast pace, clearly, she wanted to avoid the cold as much as Shadow did.

* * *

"Bramble, you know I don't tolerate _traitors._" A dark red creature snarled. Where his eyes should have been white, they were black, and his red irides appeared to glow with malice.

"I am well aware of that, Crimson. Although, I don't understand what this has to do with me, your honour." A light brown creature with black marks almost making him look like he was from a tribe. He talked with a hint of a sigh as he looked up to the other creature.

"This isn't about you, Bramble," He growled, "_You _haven't done anything." His claws scraped against the armrest of his throne of stone.

"Then who is this about?"

"A select few that I'm pretty sure even you know about!" Crimson spat. "They must be kept in line." His claws stopped mid scratch and Chaos Energy sparked off of them.

"Forgive me, your honour, but I have not seen anyone that might be considered a traitor, your rule is stronger than ever." Bramble responded, dipping his head slightly to Crimson.

"D'aw, Bramble! This is why you're favourite! Always praising my work!" Crimson giggled as he began to lean forward on his chair. "But I wish the same could be said for your intelligence, if you hadn't noticed, those with previous connections to our last Chaos Spirit might provide some unwanted conflict." Crimson growled through gritted teeth. "I need you to keep an eye on them."

"Of course, your honour, I will closely monitor their behaviour, and report to you what I find."

Crimson allowed his posture to relax as he sighed. "Good. You may go."

Bramble turned around, and rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe how Crimson still didn't realise who he was and what was really going on, but he supposed that was a good thing. How much more of this could he take? Acting as a cruel darkling's follower, forced to do everything he was told, no matter how gruesome. Every time he stepped in front of Crimson's throne, he was fearing for his life. How did he end up fearing someone that acted like a petty child so much?

* * *

"How.. damn.. cold... does it.. have..to be?" Rouge whined through chattering teeth. Rouge and Shadow were in each other's arms, huddling together for warmth as they walked. Shadow would usually despise such physical contact, but the chill in the air was so prominent it essentially bit into his fur and skin.

"This.. place doesn't even.. snow, so how is.. it as cold.. as Antarctica?" The bat continued to whine.

"**We need to find the Chaos Emerald before you two get frostbite." **Omega remarked, unlike the two Mobians, the cold presented no problem to him. "**Shadow, couldn't you use your connection to the Emeralds to see if you can track it?**"

Shadow sighed. "You know what.. happened last time." Shadow said, also struggling to speak with his teeth constantly chattering. Shadow didn't like to admit to his weaknesses, but one thing he'd always admit to was struggling to track the Chaos Emeralds. He much preferred having a device to do the tracking for him, as when he relied on his own connection to Chaos Energy he'd end up anywhere except where he wanted to be. He cringed as he remembered how he had lead his team in a constant circle around a forest, supposedly following a signal. It took them 5 days to finally realise they were going in circles, and Rouge was furious that she had ruined her boots by covering them in mud for nothing.

"**Still, it might give us a good place to start.**" Omega insisted.

Shadow took a deep breath in and tried to focus all his energy to trace where the emerald might be. He let the Chaos Energy consume his mind, and the familiar feeling of him almost floating filled his senses. To his frustration, there was no sign of the emerald, so Shadow needed to let the Chaos Energy consume him further.

"AAAH!" He suddenly screeched, he could feel Rouge's hands stop him and hold him up before he fell down. His knees were weak and felt like they were going to give in any second, and his arms were as heavy as lead. The worst pain, however, was in his head, where there was a relentless pounding like a hammer in his brain. Not to mention he could practically feel his brain physically throbbing, and all that added to the fact he felt like he was shot with a piercing bullet. He started to writhe in agony, struggling to breathe and the world around him was beginning to turn black. He could vaguely make out the sound of someone talking but was unable to put a name to the voice before the crushing burn thrashed in his head more aggressively.

Then everything was dark.

* * *

"Shadow?" Rouge's voice shook with panic as she felt Shadow go limp in her arms. "Can you hear me?" She asked desperately.

"**He's passed out.**" Omega stated. Even though Rouge very well knew he wan't able of expressing his emotions through his voice, she was grateful that made him sound much calmer and stable than she was. "**We'll have to go back to the ship and let him recover.**"

"What do you think just happened?" She fretted, her voice not just quivering from the cold, but worry as well.

"**I have no idea.**"

Rouge was left to stare in confusion and concern at Shadow's unconscious body. "I suppose that's all we can do for-" Rouge broke off as she swore she could her footsteps approaching. Her shoulders tensed and her heart filled with dread as she allowed herself to turn around to the face the unknown figure.

"What gives you all the right to be here?"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

**HELLO THERE! I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS SO FAR, I'VE PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO THE LORE AND CHARACTERS, AND I CAN ONLY HOPE YOUR HAVING AS MUCH FUN READING THIS AS I AM HAVING WRITING IT!**

**SORRY, FOR LEAVING YA'LL ON A CLIFF HANGER THERE.. BUT, I LIKE CLIFFHANGERS**

**THIS ALL BEING SAID, I'M QUITE A NEW WRITER, AND THIS IS MY FIRST FANFICTION, CRITIQUES AND REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED SO I KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE AND MAKE THIS MORE ENTERTAINING FOR YOU GUYS!**

**HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!**


	4. Hostile Reception

Rouge gulped as she processed what was in front of her. It had to be a Black Arm, the resemblance to Eclipse was uncanny. The same black eyes, glowing irides, and jagged pupils. However, this one was definitely a female, and she was a dark purple, but with lilac patches all over. Her voice was definitely more feminine, but rough around the edges, and she had the same, almost robotic effect on her voice as Eclipse had. She thought Eclipse was the only Black Arm that looked like that though. She was forced to put her thoughts aside to reply to the alien.

"I'm sorry, _little missy, _do we need a permit?" Rouge's voice dripped with sarcasm. Rouge usually wouldn't provoke a Black Arm, but this one, frankly, was very short. She'd only reach her stomach, surely? Rouge knew she shouldn't assume the Black Arm wasn't a threat due to her size, but she had such a small stature that she appeared barely a threat. The only thing about her slightly intimidating were her sharp fangs.

"Do you have no respect?" The Black Arm snarled. "You are on our planet, and I demand to know what you're up to."

Rouge paused. Should she explain they were looking for the Chaos Emeralds? No, definitely not, they'd try to find it for themselves and try to initiate another conquest. The bat sighed and her ears fell flat. "We're lost, our transportation crashed."

"Really?" The Black Arm asked, her tone was condescending. "I thought the ship was perfectly intact when I encountered it, until I destroyed it that is."

Rouge gritted her teeth. Great! Her cover was blown already _and _their only way of going home was broken. "Before you think about lecturing me, look at you're own actions first, destroying our ship wasn't very _respectful, _was it?" Rouge's voice began to shake with anger.

The Black Arm snorted in contempt. "Why should I show courtesy to _Mobians?_" She hissed the last word and saliva spat out of her mouth.

Rouge stood up from where she was beside Shadow's side. She was about to kick this girl in the ass if she insulted them one more time. "I don't know, maybe we deserve some consideration after you tried to take over our planet!"

"You think you're the one that deserves consideration after our kind have almost gone extinct because of you?" The Black Arm began to slowly walk forward, and her voice grew softer.

"Maybe you deserved it after trying to kill all of us." Rouge said, equally quietly. The Black Arm was right in front of her, and Rouge had to look down so she could make eye contact.

"Did we now?" The Black Arms voice was barely more than a whisper.

The Black Arm suddenly vanished. Rouge felt her ram into her back, and pinned her to the ground. Teeth teared into the flesh of her wing and a roaring pain shot through her. Rouge was able to lift her head and yelp in pain. The fangs continued relentlessly to rip her wing, and the red hot sting grew worse and worse, until the bat couldn't bare it anymore. Rouge forced herself to swivel around, and she violently kicked up to feel her boot collide with the Black Arm's gut. The alien was sent flying away, and with a thud the Black Arm hit the ground, giving Rouge enough time to stand up.

Omega, who had previously let Rouge do all the talking, was now charging a beam canon to fire at the Black Arm. "**Run, try to find somewhere safe so your wing can heal.**" He said to Rouge, although still focusing on the Black Arm who was now getting up.

Rouge tried to speak, but a grunt came out instead. She looked back at her right wing, where one half of the wing was now dangling awkwardly. "It's just my wing." She managed to say after steadying her breathing. "I can still fight."

* * *

_Bramble! Can you hear me or what?_

_Yes I can, Primrose, sorry I couldn't get to you sooner, I was with Crimson, unfortunately._

_You need to get to Violet, pronto._

_Why? What's going on?_

_She's attacking some Mobians, can't you hear her in the hive mind now? She hasn't locked herself out._

_I told you, I've been with Crimson, I haven't been keeping an eye on the hive mind. The real question is, what are Mobians doing here?_

_That's something I've been unable to tell from her thoughts, although what I do know is that she almost tore off one of their limbs, she's frustrated she didn't rip it off completely._

_Did they attack her first?_

_It's a bit hard to tell just by reading her mind! Although my guess is that she attacked them despite them not presenting a threat. I don't think there are many of them, that's for sure_

Bramble outwardly sighed. _So in other words, she attacked through careless aggression. _

_What's new, Bramble? Sun's already on his way there though, I think you should go before anymore sparks fly._

_I'm on my way now._

_Let me know once you've found out what's going on._

_I will._

Bramble let out a soft growl, why did Violet have to be so difficult? Not to mention the fact that if Primrose hadn't notified him, he wouldn't of known about this event at all, which made a slightly sick feeling settle at the bottom of his stomach. He was spending more and more time with Crimson, rather than keeping an eye on those that mattered. Bramble was also unsettled by the arrival of these Mobians. Are they as innocent as they seem? Even if they are, what are they doing here? What was he supposed to do with them?

* * *

Omega decided not to argue with Rouge, he knew how stubborn she could be.

"**You'll regret attacking us.**" Omega simply said to the alien. The laser beam he was charging now shot out of his arm canon at a blazing speed. The Black Arm just manged to dodge out of the way. She appeared slightly stunned, Omega used this opportunity to fire small missiles at her, and a few of them managed to scrape her arm before she manged to avoid them by leaping to the side. She began to hiss as Chaos Energy began to spark off of her, forming an aura. Omega continued to shoot at her, but the bullets disintegrated as soon as they came into contact with the energy.

"You'll regret ever stepping on this planet." She retorted, unphased. Omega noticed that she was using Chaos energy to heal her arm where the bullets had hit her. She suddenly let out a yell before leaping high in the air towards him, with her claws outstretched and Chaos Energy shooting off of her. Omega started to prepare a flamethrower so he could attack, but before he got the chance, a sudden burst of yellow knocked the Black Arm out of the way.

"Stop, Violet!" The yellow blur was now pinning Violet to the ground, and it was now evident that he was also a Black Arm. Unlike Violet, he was yellow with orange eyes, and his fur went around his head like a lion's mane.

"What are you doing, Sun?" She snarled while pushing him off, her fur bristled as she continued to yell at him. "They're intruders!"

Sun shook his head. "Maybe you should hear them out _before_ you attack them. Just a suggestion."

"I did ask them! And when I did, they lied! They said their ship crash landed, yet there wasn't a single scratch!" The claws on Violet's foot digged into the ground as she glared at Sun.

Sun turned to face the Mobians, and Omega held his gaze. The robot didn't care what way this may go. If they fought, they fought. If they talked it out, they talked it out.

"Why did you lie?" Sun asked, with what seemed more like curiosity than hostility.

Rouge approached Sun calmly, trying to not show the pain she was enduring. "Lack of trust, to put it simply. I'm not willing to tell creatures that have tried to take over my planet in the past what I'm doing."

Sun shrugged. "I don't agree with Violet's methods, but I won't lie, the fact you wouldn't tell us why you're here makes me inclined to believe you are up to no good."

"It's not like we attacked her, and I assure you we were going to leave as soon as we did what we needed, except now your little friend here," she pointed to Violet, "has destroyed our ship, which, by the way, is our only transportation method."

"Ah." Sun remarked uneasily, his gaze flicking between Violet, Omega, and Rouge, before his gaze suddenly fell on Shadow, who was still unconscious on the floor. He suddenly whipped around to Violet, his eyes wide. "Did you kill him?" He asked, his voice filled with shock as he gestured to Shadow.

"No." Violet grumbled. "He was like that already."

"I can confirm that." Rouge added to assure Sun. "Although the circumstances of him passing out were rather strange, and I wonder if one of you Black Arms could explain why." She said suspiciously.

"I don't know a Black Arm who can kill without leaving a single scratch.." Sun wondered, staring at Shadow's body.

"He's not dead, he's unconscious!" Rouge huffed in impatience.

"Unconscious...?" Sun asked shaking his head and leaning forward as if expecting an explanation.

Omega blinked in realisation. These creatures were immortal, and they healed from every wound. It made sense to him that none of them had been injured so badly that they'd end up passing out. It made sense that they didn't know what being unconscious was. "**Unconscious means to not be awake and aware of and responding to one's environment.**"

Rouge smiled as she looked at Omega. "Did you get that definition off of the dictionary Tails built in?" She asked.

"**Yes.**" Omega responded, it seemed the most suitable way of explaining the term.

"You could of just said 'sleeping but not really', and I would of probably got the gist of it." Sun grinned, although he glanced at the pair hesitantly. Sun suddenly bent down beside Shadow, and picked him up bridal style. Omega noticed Rouge's fists clench slightly, she was obviously prepared to fight if Sun tried anything. Sun then looked Rouge in the eyes with concern, with Shadow in his arms. "I'm willing to offer you guys a place to stay for the time being. We can help you heal as well."

Rouge was taken aback, but hesitant to accept his offer. When Rouge turned her head to Omega, he nodded slightly. He failed to sense any form of hostility now. "Okay, thank you." Rouge smiled back to Sun for the first time.

Omega picked up a quiet hiss from Violet, but didn't bother to comment. There was no point arousing her violent temper. "Okay!" Sun said, surprisingly cheerfully. "Although, we'll have to be stealthy." He suddenly added.

"**Why is that?**" Omega asked, suspicion returning again in a heartbeat.

"We can't let-"

"What's going on?" Everyone quickly turned to face behind them where a deep voice spoke, a light brown Black Arm with black markings was approaching. Rouge tensed up beside Omega.

Sun suddenly heaved a sigh of relief, and then beamed a smile at the newcomer. "I thought you were someone else for a second, Bramble, although I hate to say you're quite late to the party."

* * *

**HELLO AGAIN READERS!**

**THERE'S A LITTLE MORE GOING ON IN THIS CHAPTER, AND I'M QUITE PLEASED WITH THE RESULT! I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS STORY SO FAR. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE SUPPORT! YOU'RE ALL AMAZING :3**

**I WOULD ALSO BE CURIOUS TO KNOW OF PEOPLE'S OPINIONS ON THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, THIS IS MY FIRST TIME CREATING OCs AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THEY ARE COMPELLING TO YOU GUYS, OR IF YOU HAVE ANY CRITIQUES, PLEASE TELL ME!**

**REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED! I'M ALWAYS LOOKING TO IMPROVE.**


	5. Friends Or Enemies?

Bramble looked down at Shadow in Sun's arms, then back to Omega and Rouge, his gaze lingered on Rouge's torn wing. "We'll get them to Daisy."

Sun nodded enthusiastically. "Aye, Aye Captain!"

Bramble had already turned around and began walking away. Violet followed and so did Sun. Rouge noticed how Sun would sometimes walk closer to Violet, brushing Shadow's unconscious body against her arm. Every time this happened, she jumped out of the way and hissed, and Sun couldn't help but chuckle.

Rouge was also struggling to stifle her laughter. It was an amusing sight to see this tiny Black Arm hissing uncontrollably at an unconscious Mobian. However, she had now learnt the hard way not to make judgements based on someone's appearance. She suddenly gritted her teeth as the pain in her wing returned. Rouge's eyes narrowed, how come Violet was so violent towards them and the others were offering them a place to stay? Didn't the other Black Arms want revenge for the near extinction of their species?

Rouge and Omega trailed on behind, side by side, keeping a fair distance between them and the Black Arms. They wanted to be prepared in case they were leading them to a trap. Rouge wasn't about to trust these creatures already.

Sun then suddenly began walking backwards and now he was beside Rouge and Omega. "That's Bramble." He tilted his head, indicating to the Black Arm in the lead. "If you ever end up in trouble, go to him before anyone else."

Rouge started to open her mouth, about to ask Sun why they might end up in trouble in the first place. Instead she was interrupted by a pink Black Arm suddenly appearing in front of them, causing to Rouge yell in surprise and almost fall back onto Omega. This Black Arm was definitely a female, and her fur stuck out like fat pigtails with dark pink tips. Her thin pink tail had a single, large scale on the end in the shape of a heart.

The Black Arm spared a glance at Rouge, Omega, Sun, and Shadow, before suddenly growling at Bramble. "What part of tell 'me once you've found out' do you not understand? I was starting to get worried!"

Bramble dipped his head and sighed gently. "You haven't told anyone else about our.. guests, have you?"

"Only Ivy, Glacier, and Daisy!" She insisted indignantly. "You think I'm dumb enough to tell Crimson? Now Sun might do something like that, but not me!"

"Hey!" Sun remarked, clearly insulted.

Rouge had now recovered from her previous shock and her eyes narrowed at the Black Arm in front of her. "Are you sure telling those creatures was necessary? Because that's three too many for my liking." The bat warned.

The pink alien dismissed Rouge's comment with a flick of her hand. "It's fine! They're on our side."

Rouge's eyes narrowed. "What side would that be?"

The alien shuddered slightly. "Let's just say it's a side you'd prefer to be on."

"Why are they there, Primrose?" Bramble's voice could be hard from the front of the group. He was gritting his teeth, trying very hard to stay calm. "The camp should be abandoned. Don't tell me the comet blew up.. _again._"

Primrose put her hands on her hips. "You should just expect it at this point." Bramble didn't acknowledge her, but continued to glare forward.

Rouge looked to where Bramble was focusing on, and was met by a two rows of caves opposite each other. They were just as dull as the rest of the planet, and practically blended in with the ground. Rouge's mouth abruptly gaped open as her eyes looked up to see a humongous ruined castle made of stone lying beyond the caves, towering up amongst the stormy clouds. It looked like it belonged in a horror movie.

Rouge's ears suddenly picked up that no one was talking. The Black Arms were looking at each other, but no words were spoken, making her feel uncomfortable. Omega must of been getting uneasy as well, as his robotic claws drummed slightly against his metal legs, causing a rhythmic clanging sound. With a jolt, sh realised the Black Arms were communicating in their heads, in other words, telepathically.

Sun unexpectedly broke the silence, he sounded hesitant and embarrassed as he asked a question. "So.. like.. is teleporting a thing that might kills Mobians or..?"

Rouge was unimpressed that the tension that was built up had been for barely anything. "No. We can teleport. We won't die. "

"Told you." Primrose chirped quietly.

"Damn." Sun muttered.

* * *

Suddenly, they were in a cave, quite a large one in fact. It had the first sign of plant life the planet had shown, but even that was miserable looking. One of the walls was completely covered in strings of ivy, but it was all grey and crinkled, and it barely stood out amongst the walls of the cave.

"Oh, you poor thing!" A high pitched voice, definitely feminine, spoke out sympathetically from behind Rouge. Before the bat knew what was happening she felt claws grab her wing and tear the tangling remains right off. "AAAAH!" Rouge screamed in pain, and Omega began to charge a laser beam canon at whatever creature was behind her.

At that moment, she was suddenly hit with a wave of hit spreading throughout her body, she looked over her shoulder and found her back was glowing where her wing should of been. _Chaos Energy _the bat realised with a jolt. _Is she..?_

"There you go! All healed up!" The voice chirped. Rouge slowly twisted her head round to be met with a white furred black arm with soft yellow eyes. She also had some yellow fur going around the side of her head making it sort of look like she had long, yellow dog ears. "Anymore injuries?"

"I- N-no." Rouge stumbled on her words, she was still baffled out how quickly it took. "T-thank you." Rouge noticed Omega put down his arm again.

The alien smiled softly. "No problem."

Sun suddenly put down Shadow at the Black Arm's feet. "What can you do for this one, Daisy?"

Daisy's eyes widened in shock and she quickly bent down. She pressed her head against Shadow's chest, probably listening for a heartbeat. A look of relief swept over her face after a couple of seconds.

"He's unconscious. It means to not be awake and aware of and responding to one's environment." Sun explained with a proud smile, quoting what Omega had explained earlier. He peered over to Omega, almost like he was expecting praise.

"Oh. Do we wait for him to come around then?" Daisy asked, looking up at Rouge.

"Yeah, just -" Rouge suddenly broke off as realisation dawned on her.

They were with Black Arms.

Shadow had their DNA.

What might they do when they found out?

Rouge began to sweat as she looked back at Daisy. These Black Arms had been unexpectedly nice and hospitable so far, with only the exception of Violet. Could she trust them? Or would they try to capture Shadow somehow to meet their own ends.

"You okay?" Daisy inquired as she began to step closer to Rouge. She must've noticed how the bat was furiously sweating and staring blankly as she got lost in her thoughts.

"I-I'm fine. Perfectly fine." Rouge lied through her teeth.

Primrose's next remark made Rouge jump. "Looks like the guy has finally decided to wake up."

Rouge's eyes filled with dread as she forced herself to look back down to Shadow.

Shadow was sitting up, rubbing his head. His eyes opened.

Daisy was leaning over him. "Are you okay?"

What Daisy got in response was Shadow's fist colliding with her face. She was sent flying straight into Bramble, and both of them were now pressed up against the wall.

Violet now leapt in to action with a cry, digging her claws into Shadow's shoulders and ramming him into the floor. Shadow winced as the claws dug deeper into his skin, drawing scarlet blood before he kicked up and hit Violet's stomach. She grunted before loosening her grip, which gave enough time for Shadow to thrust her aside and stand up. Violet trembled as she pushed herself off of the ground an she met Shadow's gaze with a hostile glare.

Primrose suddenly shoved herself in between the two fighters, her hands separating them, with a force field emitting from each one. "We're not here to fight!" She hissed.

"A Black Arm not wanting to fight? Oh, that's new!" Shadow growled. Rage burning fiercely in his eyes.

"Shadow, they healed my injuries and offered us a place to stay. Hear them out." Rouge told Shadow calmly. Shadow stared at her as if she was barking mad.

Primrose pouted. "Can I trust you two not to attack each other once I lower the force field?"

Shadow nodded slowly and discretely, and Violet mumbled a "yes" that was barely audible.

Primrose allowed herself to exhale and lowered the force fields. Rouge didn't let herself feel relieved quite yet.

Bramble was checking on Daisy, who still looked a bit dazed from Shadow's punch. Bramble's voice then sounded out across the cave, clear and calm, making everyone feel relaxed and reassured.

"Fighting will get us nowhere, we have to talk."

* * *

**HELLO! IT'S ME AGAIN!**

**THANKS TO ALL THOSE THAT HAVE TAKEN AN INTEREST! IT'S REALLY ENCOURAGING TO ME WHEN I FIND OUT PEOPLE ARE ENJOYING MY STORIES!**

**THIS ALL BEING SAID, IF YOU ARE CURIOUS ABOUT THE BLACK ARMS DESIGNS I'LL BE UPLOADING CHARACTER PROFILES ON MY DEVIANTART, THE LINK CAN BE FOUND ON MY PROFILE.**

**I'VE ALREADY GOT DAISY'S DESIGN UP THERE, AND I'LL BE UPLOADING MORE OF THE CHARACTERS!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


	6. Blast to the Past

Bramble sat cross legged on the ground, eyeing everyone in the cave carefully, his eyes narrowed. "Sit." His tone was stern.

Sun, Dawn, and Primrose immediately sat down next to Bramble, and Rouge and Omega followed, visibly hesitantly. Violet sat down only after one last glare at Shadow. Only Shadow remained standing, defiance sparking in his eyes.

Bramble blinked up at Shadow, his mouth set in a firm line. "Why must you insist on being difficult?"

"Forgive me for not complying with a species that tried to brainwash me and make me join them, along with the fact that they tried to destroy my planet." Shadow gave Bramble a look that could kill.

Violet scoffed. "Why would we want to brainwash something like _you?_ We have better things to do with our time."

"How about you ask Black Doom, Black Death, _and _Eclipse?" Shadow's voice growled with malice. He hated to think that all three of them had tried to do it, and to a certain extent, succeeded.

"THAT'S A BIT HARD TO DO CONSIDERING THEY'RE DEAD!" Violet screeched, suddenly leaping into the air to pin down Shadow again. However, all Violet collided with was a force field.

Daisy had her hands held out, she must have been the one to spawn the force field. "Violet, we need to let each other know what's going on, we can't do that if we're trying to kill each other." Daisy tried to reason.

"Telling them our current situation will do NOTHING!" Violet shouted to Daisy. "What are they going to do about it except screw everything up?"

"I don't think they could screw things up anymore than you have already, Violet." A voice spoke from the entrance of the cave. Shadow looked over and his eyes were met with a pale green Black Arm, with a lot of spindly dark green fur coming out of from behind his head. Despite the Black Arms words, there was no spite, just humour.

"Who invited _him?_" Violet hissed, pointing to the Black Arm and turning on the others in the cave.

Bramble ignored Violet's remark. "Ivy, please sit down, you too Violet _and.._" Bramble's voice trailed off as he looked at Shadow. The Black Arm had obviously realised he didn't even know his name.

"Shadow." The hedgehog mumbled, he just wanted to retrieve the chaos emerald, he didn't have time for this.

Shadow noticed Bramble's stare as he spoke. "Shadow, please sit down."

Shadow huffed as he sat down with crossed legs and crossed arms, probably more like an angsty teen than intended. He just wanted to get off this planet, and out of the other Black Arm's reach. He was beyond hearing them out, beyond trusting them after what they did.

Before Ivy joined the others on the floor, he peered around the outside wall of the cave. His voice became gentle, almost coaxing. "C'mon, Glacier, there will be no fighting."

A white black arm with light blue spikes suddenly appeared behind Ivy, and Shadow assumed it was Glacier. Glacier's shoulders were bunched up and tense, and his head was slightly hung low.

Ivy apparently grew impatient with Glacier and he pushed Glacier in the cave. "They're not gonna bite!" Ivy insisted with a mild hint of frustration.

Glacier almost fell over but stopped himself in the nick of time. He then rushed to the cave wall on the opposite side of everyone else and sat down there, his knees tucked in under his chin.

Ivy squished himself in between Sun and Primrose. He grinned at her and shuffled closer. "Hey girl-"

"No." Primrose responded without looking or letting him finish his sentence.

"Now we're all here," Bramble interrupted, "there should be no interruptions." He looked over everyone in the cave until he came across Rouge and Omega. "Names?"

"**I ****am E123 Omega, or just Omega for convenience sake.**" The robot announced, he then pointed at Rouge. "**This is Rouge.**"

"W-wait, can I ask a question?" Sun suddenly turned to Bramble.

Bramble sighed. "Yes.."

Sun then turned back to Omega. "What kind of Mobian are you?"

"**I am created to be an artificially intelligent life form made out of resources found on Mobius, my purpose was originally to kill Sonic, but Eggman is worse so I decided to try and kill him instead and now I ended up with these two meatbags, my new chosen purpose is to defeat all Eggman robots, showing that I am infinitely better than them and assert my dominance-**"

"They get it Omega." Rouge interrupted, not impressed.

Sun looked creeped out at Omega's words. "Yeah, I think I get it."

Bramble took a deep breath in, then a deep breath out. "Now we've established.. whatever that just was, I'd like to say to you that we, referring to all the Black Arms _only_ in this cave, have no intention to harm you in anyway."

"What about the Black Arms, _not _in this cave?" Rouge asked.

"Hopefully, you won't need to know about them, that's if we can keep you all hidden." Bramble said, half to himself by the looks of things.

"What are you doing here anyway? You're a long way from home." Daisy's voice piped up with a hint of sympathy, but also curiosity.

Shadow noticed Rouge bite her lip. Clearly, she was unwilling to share this information with the creatures, and he couldn't blame her. Who knows what they might do with the knowledge that a Chaos Emerald was on their planet? However, Shadow had simply run out of patience, and decided to tell them straight. "We're looking for a Chaos Emerald that has landed somewhere on this planet."

Rouge looked horrified at Shadow's words, but kept her mouth shut. Bramble appeared to be majorly startled. "How did it end up all the way over here? This planet is like- on the other side of the galaxy."

"Due to some _incompetence._" Shadow muttered through gritted teeth. The truth was, Sonic had transformed into Super Sonic to defeat a surprisingly large army of robots that was unleashed. Sonic defeated them, of course, but once the hedgehog returned to normal, the Chaos Emeralds shot off in many directions. Sonic just managed to grab five, but two went missing. Sonic and the rest were currently off in another spaceship looking for the other Chaos Emerald.

Bramble nodded slowly, seemingly accepting the vague explanation. "You knew of our leaders," Bramble said to Shadow, "Did you fight against them?"

"I killed them." Shadow said simply. "And I'll do the same to any of you if it must come to that."

The Black Arms looked at each other in horror, they didn't look like they had any idea what to do. Glacier quickly got up to run out of the cave but Daisy spawned a force field, blocking the entrance. Glacier had to reluctantly sit down again.

"H-how? Y-you're a Mobian." Daisy's voice was tight and hoarse.

"I have some of your DNA, I'm more than capable of possessing your kind of power."

"PROJECT SHADOW!" All of the Black Arms voices exclaimed at once, even Glacier's. Their tones were a mixture of shock and fear. Rouge muttered a barely audible "Ya dun goofed," at Shadow.

Daisy, surprisingly, was the first to stand up. "A shadow will cast down and spill ruby blood." Her voice was practically a whisper, and it was almost like she was putting the pieces of a puzzle together.

Daisy's hand suddenly glowed with Chaos Energy, and then Shadow screamed in pain, grabbing his head in anguish.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Rouge yelled, getting up. She swung her leg around, about to kick Daisy in the side only to find herself pulled back against the wall by Bramble and Violet. Violet's claws dug into her arm. "Calm down! She's not doing anything bad!" Violet snarled in frustration.

"How am I supposed to believe that?" Rouge snapped back, trying to twist herself out of Violet's and Bramble's grip.

"Sorry, it'll be over soon!" Daisy apologised sympathetically to Shadow, Shadow couldn't reply, however, as he was too busy screeching in agony.

It seemed that Daisy spoke the truth, as the pain in Shadow's head, slowly, but surely, faded. Shadow sighed in relief.

_Hello!_

God damn it. There was a voice in his head.

Wait, Daisy's voice? Suddenly, all the pieces came together, he was in the hive mind. Great, now he could talk to them in his thoughts. For whatever purpose _that _might serve.

_Why have you done this?_

_Why did I give you access to the hive mind? Well, for starters, you should have already had it!_

_I have been able to sense Black Arms before, and even get a glimpse into the hive mind, but not this time around, although that might of been what the headache was about earlier, leading me to be unconscious._

_That.. shouldn't have happened, nothing should of changed. Almost like something's interfering.._

_I couldn't care either way, I have no purpose communicating to you through this way, anyway._

Shadow was baffled as to how he could hear her laughing slightly, in his head. _Well, you're kinda talking to me in the hive mind now._

_Well done for pointing out the obvious. What do you want, a medal? Anyway, from now on, I'm locking myself out._

_Wai-_

Shadow couldn't help but smile smugly at the fact that he had managed to block her out of his head. Daisy, however, pouted.

"Don't tell me I did that for nothing.." She groaned.

"Maybe you should have asked for my permission first so you wouldn't waste your time." Shadow met her gaze harshly.

"Do you really think he's the one?" Primrose suddenly asked. Daisy turned to back to her. "I-I know he is."

Bramble stood up and went next to Daisy. His amber gaze rested on her. "You know this is going to be difficult, don't you?"

Daisy put her head in her hands, her voice came out muffled. "I know, that's why it hurts.." she then looked up again at Bramble, her smile was unsteady. "But we have to try."

Bramble appeared to notice Violet out of the corner of his eye, and Shadow followed Bramble's gaze. Violet was staring at the three in the centre, but her eyes were blank, almost glassy looking, as if she was looking straight through them. Shadow didn't like to admit to fear, but her expression devoid of anything sent chills down his spine.

Bramble slowly approached her, his voice was quiet, but full of compassion. "Violet, I feel terrible asking this, but if we show him he might be willing to help."

Violet still had the hollow look in her eyes, but she nodded. Daisy's hand then glowed with Chaos Energy and voices swarmed Shadow's head again. How did she manage to pull him back in when he locked himself out? Voices began to flood his head, and he could of sworn an image was beginning to form.

* * *

Shadow could of sworn they had all teleported to a different place, but from the situation he was in previously, he assumed that was not the case.

"We're in Violet's memories through the hive mind." Bramble explained. "Her memories remain the most vivid, it's the best way to show you."

"Show me what?" Shadow was more annoyed than curious.

"Just watch." Bramble said.

Shadow looked around him and soon gathered he was inside some sort of ruined castle. It was made of stone like everything else, and that added to the fact it was ruined, didn't make the place impressive at all.

"Finally decided to show up, did you?" A voice said. Shadow could have sworn it was either talking to him or Bramble, but quickly learnt that the creature talking was a dark red Black Arm sitting on a throne, with the Bramble from the past and two other Darklings he didn't recognise standing beside it. The Black Arm was looking down from the tall throne at another Black Arm down in front.

That Black Arm was Eclipse.

Shadow then remembered how Eclipse had previously left. He had stolen a shuttle after his revenge plan didn't succeed, and Shadow hoped that would of been the last time he'd see his supposed _"brother"._

Yet, here Eclipse was. Eclipse was on four legs like an animal, shaking and cowering uncontrollably. His Dark Arms were hiding behind Eclipse, their eyes wide with terror.

"Not talking?" The deep red Darkling remarked.

Eclipse finally found his voice. "Y-You don't u-understand, Pr-Project Shadow is too p-powerful, he doesn't c-care for us, h-he has no mercy f-for u-u-us!"

"You were chosen to defeat him for a reason, because you're capable of it." Despite the usual, almost robotic sound effect found on a Black Arm's voice, the Darkling's voice who was on the throne was annoyingly shrill, even though he wasn't yelling.

"C-Crimson, we're talking about s-someone who killed Black Death and Black Doom! H-How am I-?"

"Making excuses now? That's too bad." Crimson's voice was soft, but dangerous.

"I'm-"

"I've heard enough." Crimson interrupted. "You're pathetic." The Black Arm jumped down from his throne, and an aura of dark purple energy swirled around him.

"P-Please-"

"Be quiet!" Crimson snarled. "There's nothing you can do now."

"Just not the Dark Arms!"

"You raised them, they're bound to be as pathetic as you."

"P-Please not them! Leave them-! Leave Vi-!"

Eclipse never got to finish that sentence. Crimson had stabbed Eclipse straight in the chest.

Eclipse fell to the ground, limp. Blood was pouring out of his chest at a steady speed.

Beams of Dark Chaos Energy shot out of Crimson's hand. Each beam hit a Dark Arm, and the poor, innocent aliens disintegrated.

Crimson then looked ahead to a crowd of Black Arms that had all been there to watch. Their faces were blank. The only one's showing emotion were the Black Arms that Shadow had already met in the cave. Primrose had her hand covering her mouth. Glacier and Ivy looked away. Daisy was burying her head in Sun's shoulder as he could only stare in horror. Violet, however, was sobbing.

"Something wrong there, Violet?" Crimson asked condescendingly.

Violet's eyes then seethed with rage, tears still flowing uncontrollably. "YOU MONSTER!"

* * *

Shadow suddenly found himself in the cave again. He had many questions, yet none at the same time.

"All of you just went really silent and it's creeping me out.." Rouge said with concern.

"What did I just see?" Shadow asked, baffled, ignoring the bat.

"A perfect example of who Crimson is." Bramble replied bitterly, his arms crossed.

"Why did you show me that?" Shadow felt shocked to witness the death of Eclipse. He didn't know whether to feel happy about it or sad. On one hand, Eclipse had tried to mind control him and kill him, but on the other, he had been surprisingly loyal to his species, almost to a fault. It was clear he cared for them deeply and wanted them to live well. Shadow knew, deep down in his heart, that Eclipse did not deserve to die the way he did.

Bramble suddenly put his hand on Shadow's shoulder, and stared intensely into his eyes. "We believe you are prophesied to defeat Crimson."

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**FUN FACT- I'M EATING A FLAPJACK WHILE WRITING THIS, LOL**

**HELLO! THIS CHAPTER WAS A LOT OF TALKING, I'M AWARE OF THAT, SO I SPRINKLED IN SOME HUMOUR TO MAKE IT MORE ENTERTAINING! AND ECLIPSE'S DEATH SHAKES THINGS UP (AT LEAST I HOPE FOR YOU GUYS XD)**

**AGAIN, CRITIQUES AND REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!**

**HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY FOLKS!**


	7. The Deal

The look on Shadow's face could only be described as pure disgust. "If you think I'm about to help you after what you've done, you're sadly mistaken." He growled.

Shadow turned around sharply, his quills ended up hitting Bramble in the face. "Rouge, Omega, we're leaving." The hedgehog announced.

Shadow walked out, not bothering to look back. Rouge had her mouth open like she was about to say something, but quickly closed it again and followed after Shadow, with Omega close behind.

"We need to find a suitable way of scouting the area." Shadow mused once they were outside the cave, acting like nothing had just happened. "The quicker we find the emerald, the sooner we can go home."

"There is one glaring problem, and that is the fact that our ship is destroyed, meaning we are stranded." Rouge said.

Shadow's face, usually devoid of any signs of emotion, suddenly displayed an expression of true horror. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" Shadow's voice was quivering, as if the thought of being stranded on the same planet as the Black Arms genuinely terrified him.

"It was a bit hard to considering all the fighting and telepathically communicating." Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me!" Shadow snapped. "The thought should have occurred to you that we are _actually _stranded, and with the apparent lack of food and shelter, you're probably going to _die!_"

Rouge blinked, unimpressed. "Wow, if only there were some Black Arms that are offering food and shelter and we could potentially make a deal with for a method of transportation home." She said sarcastically.

Shadow sighed. "There has to be another way." He prayed.

Rouge pouted and put her hands on her hips. "Listen here _mister_, I don't know how many times I have to give you this lecture, but how about you set your pride and stubbornness once in your life! These creatures healed us, offered us a place to stay, so clearly they don't want to harm us! They're not going to capture you! They're not going to mind control you! They're not going to try and kill you! All they want is for you to defeat this.. Crimson guy who is probably some kind of evil creature. They believe you are prophesied! They believe it's destiny!"

Shadow scoffed. "I don't remember Black Arms being bothered by prophecies."

"And how much do you actually know about them? I don't think you've spoken to one of them enough to know their culture! Your problem is that you assume! You have already made judgements on these Darklings based on those you have already met. Oh wait! Wasn't there another instance when you assumed an entire species was evil after what only one group did? Oh yeah! It sounds a lot similar to when you decided to eradicate the entire human race after the ARK massacre!"

She saw Shadow flinch. She knew Shadow didn't like these events from his past brought up, but she was done sugar coating.

"What happened to '_Give them all a chance!', _Shadow? Or have you forgotten about her wish?"

"I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN ABOUT HER WISH!" Shadow snapped, and Chaos Energy sparked violently in his hands. "I could never forget." His voice trailed off and his ears drooped slightly

Rouge felt a stab of sympathy. "Then why you won't you give these guys a chance?" She asked softly, she tilted her head, indicating towards the cave.

"I-" Shadow appeared to be lost for words.

"We have more to gain if we help them, believe me, they might even help us find the Chaos Emerald along with finding us a way home!" Rouge reassured him.

Shadow hesitated for a bit, but then spoke up. "I hope you're right."

Rouge grinned. "I know I am, I always am."

"Hmph." Shadow remarked, crossing his arms. Omega rolled his eyes.

Rouge suddenly shivered. "Now can we go back inside the cave? I'm freezing my tits off!"

* * *

Bramble was pacing back and forth in the centre of the cave, talking to himself frantically under his breath. Sun could only pick up small phrases and words. "Prophecy... Project Shadow... Crimson... Destiny... He has to accept it... What do I do now?" Bramble's tail was twitching and he had his head in his hands.

It made Sun uncomfortable, and almost scared to see Bramble like this. He was usually so calm, so composed.

"Of course he wouldn't accept his destiny, he's part Mobian." Violet mumbled, fiddling with the vines covering the wall, wrapping them around her claws.

"Maybe he'll change his mind!" Daisy said optimistically, Sun felt like he wanted to agree with her, but would Shadow really be willing to? Already, Shadow appeared to be bad tempered, and he didn't exactly appear to have had a good history with the other Black Arms he's met.

Glacier, who hadn't spoken yet, decided to voice his thoughts in his quiet voice. "Why would he want to help us? He doesn't have a reason to. He doesn't appear to care about us. He's more interested in the Chaos Emerald."

"That's the most I've heard you say in a while!" Ivy randomly commented, Glacier immediately became flustered and buried himself deeper into the corner of the cave.

Sun suddenly had an epiphany after Glacier's words , he jumped up with a huge grin. "He does have a reason to help us!"

There was a pause. "Could you elaborate?" Primrose finally asked, there was an edge of hopefulness in her voice.

Sun then grabbed Violet's hand and hoisted her up. She was now dangling from Sun's hand, as she was too short to reach the ground. "Because our little pal over here-"

"If you call me _little pal _one more time, I will rip out your lungs and eat them."

Sun began to nervously sweat but continued on. "As I was saying, Violet has destroyed their ship, they are stranded now! If we offer to build them a comet so they can travel home, in exchange for Shadow killing Crimson, it's a win-win!"

"We can barely rebuild our own comet." Bramble pointed out through gritted teeth.

"Well, we'll just have to try harder!" Sun insisted. "We can also offer to help them find the Chaos Emerald!"

All the Darklings looked at each other, and smiles slowly crept on their faces. "For once," Primrose began, "you've said something smart."

"Thank you! Wait, what do you mean 'for once'?"

No one replied, as Shadow, Rouge, and Omega came back into the cave. Rouge nudged Shadow in the back with her elbow, pushing him further into the cave. With one last look at Rouge, he cautiously walked towards Bramble.

* * *

"I will help you." Shadow said, although there was a slight hesitation.

Bramble smiled and laughed slightly in relief and surprise. "I- thank you!"

"On one condition." Shadow added quickly.

"You want us to help find the Chaos Emerald and build a comet for you guys to go home in, I assume?" Bramble asked tilting his head.

Shadow immediately glared at Bramble in suspicion. "Did you read my mind?"

Bramble couldn't help but smile. "I can't exactly read your mind if you locked yourself out of the hive mind."

Shadow still didn't look like he trusted Bramble, and remained tense. He suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him, and turned sharply to see Daisy hugging him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed as she continued to hug Shadow tighter.

"Let go of me, now." Shadow commanded, his voice dangerous. Daisy did let go, but she didn't seem to be intimidated by Shadow's words.

"You don't know how grateful we-" She suddenly broke off as dread swept over her face. "They're coming."

"Who's coming?" Shadow's fur bristled.

Bramble turned to Ivy "Teleport them away, somewhere far."

Ivy nodded "Good luck." He said under his breath. He snapped his fingers and only Bramble, Daisy, and Shadow were left in the cave.

"Follow my lead." Bramble hissed to Shadow. Shadow had many questions at this moment in time but he decided not to ask them, the time didn't seem appropriate. He was left to wonder in confusion. His eyes focused on two figures entering the cave. One was grey with darker spots all over, his expression was aloof. The other was a red and white female, her eyes darted around the cave quickly.

The grey Darkling went right into Bramble's face and hissed. "What is a _Mobian _doing here?"

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**NOT MUCH HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER, I'LL ADMIT. BUT IT MARKS THE TURNING THE POINT. SHADOW HAS DECIDED TO HELP THEM!**

**ALSO, DID I MENTION I LOVE ENDING CHAPTERS ON CLIFF HANGERS? XD**

**IM REALLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE SUPPORT AND HOW MUCH YOU GUYS SEEM TO BE ENJOYING THIS STORY! IM CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF DRAWING THE CHARACTER'S DESIGNS AND POSTING THEM ON MY DEVIANTART.**

**I'M ALSO VERY TIRED, SO I'M GONNA HAVE A GOOD SNOOZE.**

**HAVE A GOOD DAY FOLKS!**


	8. Double Agent

Bramble met the grey Darkling's gaze by looking him in the eye. "He's Project Shadow."

Although Shadow displayed no physical signs of emotion, he was horrified. He wanted to scream in Bramble's face and Chaos Blast him straight into the sun. Weren't these Black Arms that had just come in supposed to be the enemy? Then why on Mobius did Bramble think revealing his identity was a good idea? He was well aware that he had previously refused to use the hive mind, but he decided he needed to enter it now to find out what was going on.

_What on Mobius are you doing?_

Bramble ignored Shadow for the time being, attentive as to what the Darkling in front of him was saying. "And what is he doing here?" The grey Darkling hissed. "I don't know if you can recall, but I distinctly remember that during Eclipse's pathetic rant before he died, he mentioned something along the lines of this.." he suddenly pointed at Shadow, "_thing _to be the reason for Black Doom and Black Deaths demise! So answer me this Bramble, why didn't you report him and send him into Crimson's custody?" The Black Arm's voice was quite quiet and raspy, but his hissing tone and cutting glare made him appear rather threatening.

_How good are you at_ _acting?_

Shadow blinked in surprise as he heard Daisy's voice in his head. Well, at least someone was paying attention to him. From Daisy's tone, it seemed she was aware she was asking a strange question, and laughing at herself because of this. Yet, there was still a hint of anxiety.

_I mean, it depends._

_Well.. imagine this, you're in a situation where you have to pretend you're working for the enemy, so you can stab them in the back later._

_Wait - You're suggesting I'm going to work with Crimson? Why go to all that trouble?_

_Bramble thinks it will give us enough time to think of a decent strategy. Acting like his follower will not only let you gain his trust so you can attack him without him expecting it, but it also gives us enough time to actually figure out how you're going to defeat him, because you know.. he's kind of immortal._

_Don't I have a say in this?_

_It's a little to late for that. _He could hear Daisy's apologetic laugh in his head. He looked over to where she was and saw her near the dead Ivy on the wall. There was a blank look on her face, giving off no hint that they were talking to each other in their minds. He saw her pull away the Ivy like a curtain and saw holes in the cave walls acting like little lockers. She reached in to a few and picked up a few crinkled up leaves and counting them, whispering numbers under her breath. Shadow didn't really know their significance, but she seemed to be occupying herself with this task, or at least, pretending she was occupied.

Shadow suddenly realised that he had missed most of the conversation between Bramble and the other Black Arm. He decided to turn his full attention towards them.

Bramble's tail was twitching slightly, expressing his annoyance and impatience towards the Black Arm. "Shadow has free will, I'm pretty sure he's capable of changing his opinion on us."

"That's not the point!" The grey Darkling had Chaos Energy sparking out of his hands as he was getting more riled up. "The point is is that you should have reported him to Crimson or me instead of trying to deal with it yourself! Are you not aware he is the Chaos Controller and _I _am the Chaos Guider? We are of higher status than you Bramble, remember that!"

Bramble bit his lip. "I won't do it again, Sage."

_The Chaos Controller is our leader, in this case Crimson. The Chaos Guider is the leader's assistant. _Shadow jumped slightly as Daisy was speaking in his mind again.

_Wow, knowing that information was a matter of life and death. I don't know what I'd do without it._

Daisy seemed actually a little hurt at Shadow's sarcastic tone. _I was just trying to help!_

Shadow was about to respond to her, but quickly realised Sage had turned his attention to him. Shadow's fur bristled as he returned his gaze. Sage was looking down on Shadow with scorn. "What brings you here?"

It was at that moment Shadow realised he needed to think of some kind of reason that would make them believe he was on their side. After a moment he decided a traditional route. Predictable, yes, but that was the only he could of at this current moment in time. His eyes narrowed at Sage. "I don't have time for this." Shadow growled. "I was promised power, but all I've got so far is you two bickering."

Sage suddenly grinned, flashing his sharp teeth. "You've certainly come to the right place for power."

Shadow, of course, wasn't concerned with gaining more power than he already had. He was unsure if he would be able to keep up this power hungry persona for as long as he needed to. Sage began to slowly walk towards Shadow. "You're supposed to be the ultimate lifeform, if I'm correct, you should already be powerful enough."

"I need to unlock my full potential, my Mobius heritage is holding me back. I should be able to learn something useful with you, and finally be with those worthy of my presence." Shadow was shocked at how easy this was coming to him now. He could only hope he was going to appeal to Sage, and Crimson also. Shadow still wasn't sure if he exactly agreed with Bramble's plan, but it's not like he had any other option right now.

Sage nodded, and turned towards the cave entrance. "Follow me." He commanded.

Daisy gave a discreet encouraging smile to Shadow, and Bramble gave him a slight nod. At least it seemed like he was doing something right.

A figure slinked out of the shadows of the cave. Revealing the red Black Arm with white patches he had forgotten had entered with Sage. She walked close to Shadow, _too close_. Her chest was pressing against his, and she spoke right into Shadow's ear. "You'd be attractive if you didn't look like a Mobian." She said, her voice was delicate and smooth, and he could feel her breath on his face. "I admire your drive for power." The red tip of her tail, shaped like a hook, wrapped itself around Shadow's waist.

"Maple! That's enough." Bramble called to her from near the entrance of the cave. Her eyes that had been focused on Shadow now widened in surprise as if she had forgotten anyone else was nearby. "You're no fun." She responded to Bramble, and only before one last glance at Shadow, she turned around and followed after everyone else. Shadow let his shoulders relax and he heaved a sigh of relief. He had never felt more uncomfortable in his life! The only person he ever remembered getting that close to him was Maria, and even that was just friendly hugs. He had never experienced a woman being so suggestive, even Rouge knew her limits. To be perfectly honest, he felt kind of insulted that the first woman to ever make advances on him was a Black Arm of all things.

Shadow took a breath in and followed everyone else. He could only hope that he wasn't being somehow lead to his death.

* * *

Rouge was frantically pacing back and forth, and then she decided to scream her complaints in Ivy's face. "What do you mean 'it's for the best'? Leaving Shadow alone with Black Arms that are the enemy is a terrible idea! He could be in danger!"

Ivy was trying to calm Rouge down by awkwardly tapping her shoulder. "Cool it, okay? He's not alone, Daisy and Bramble are with him."

Rouge only sighed in exasperation. "What are they even doing? What kind of stupid plan have they thought up?"

Sun shook his head and tutted. "You can call my brother anything you want _except _stupid. He's like one of the smartest guys I know! Shadow's in good hands."

Rouge suddenly stopped pacing and pointed at Sun. "If anything happens to him, I will kill you for making me trust Bramble."

It was evident that Sun was trying to hold back a laugh. "I'd honestly like to see a Mobian try."

Rouge only growled, but she then aggressively shivered and was forced to hug herself for warmth. "Why is it so cold here?"

"Gee, I wonder if I might have something to do with the planet being dead." Violet rolled her eyes.

"Okay then, I'll ask a different question, why is this place so _dead?_" Rouge asked through gritted teeth.

Primrose sighed. "Crimson drained the planet's energy for himself."

"I'm guessing he's power-mad then?"

Primrose laughed slightly, although it sounded forced. "You can say that. He's always been practising some questionable deeds with Chaos Energy, and he's always perceived Black Doom as a God because of all the power he possessed."

"That guy sounds like a-a real p-piece of work." She stumbled on her words as her teeth began to chatter.

"Come here." Primrose beckoned sympathetically. She put her hand on Rouge's forward and the bat saw a glowing aura of Chaos Energy forming around her. She wanted to cry in joy. It was so warm! It was like snuggling up in a blanket beside a roaring fire on a cold winters night.

"Thank you. You're a life saver!" Rouge thanked profusely.

"**So all we're doing now is just standing around?**" Omega asked.

"Pretty much." Ivy responded. "We're just waiting for Bramble to give us the all-clear."

Omega suddenly fired a missile out of his arm at the ground, sending up a huge cloud of smoke as the Black Arms jumped away. They stared at the huge crater left in the ground. "**Forgive me while I entertain myself.**" He then began firing more types of projectiles at the ground.

"Does he.. do this often?" Ivy whispered to Rouge.

"Yes, yes he does."

* * *

The group finally made their way across the centre of the two rows of caves. All the Black Arms that passed didn't attempt to question or even really look at him. Shadow noticed that they all had a misty look in their eyes, as if they weren't quite all there. It made Shadow's fur stand on end.

They then entered the huge castle standing tall in the centre. Shadow gazed around him, the only thing about it to be admired was its size. However, the castle itself was falling apart, with gaping holes in the walls and the floors crumbling away around the edges. They went up a tall spiral staircase, leading to a room that was probably more intact than the rest of the castle. There was a throne on the far end, and Shadow could just about make out a figure sitting on it.

A chirpy voice sounded through the room and the figure leapt out of the throne.

"Ah, Shadow! Returned home at last I see?"

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**HEY DUDES!**

**I KNOW THINGS ARE STILL SLOW, BUT I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT THERE WILL BE MORE ACTION NEXT CHAPTER!**

**SO, UH.. WHAT YA GUYS THINKING OF THE OCs NOW YOU'VE GOT MORE OF A FEEL FOR THEM? ANY CRITIQUES, IF SO, I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW!**

**ONCE AGAIN, I ALWAYS APPRECIATE REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES!**

**THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO'S INTERESTED IN THIS STORY, IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME AND IT'S REALLY ENCOURAGING!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


	9. Crimson's Trial

Crimson had a spring in his step as he approached Shadow. The short, curly fur around his head bounced slightly with each stride. "My, my, this is rather fascinating!" he exclaimed. He began to walk around Shadow, his eyes observing the hedgehog at every possible angle. "Project Shadow, made from Black Doom's DNA.." he said to himself in awe.

"Are you done goggling?" Shadow asked impatiently through gritted teeth. In reality, Shadow was more uncomfortable than anything, but he had to force these feelings aside to keep the power hungry persona going.

"Oh! You're a feisty thing aren't you?" Crimson laughed.

Shadow didn't respond, he preferred to let Crimson continue to talk. The darkling was constantly circling him, and every time he went behind Shadow's back, the hedgehog's fur bristled uneasily.

"You have the power to kill Black Doom, _and _Black Death! Yet, you're physically a Mobian. Those two facts don't quite add up to me." Crimson's long, dark red tail stroked Shadow's shoulder.

Shadow wanted to send a jolt of Chaos Energy through Crimson's body. Shadow noticed Bramble's warning look and decided to settle with just glaring at the Black Arm leader.

"How did you do it?" Crimson seemed genuinely curious. He stopped when he came in front of Shadow, and looked into his eyes attentively.

"Only with the assistance of the Chaos Emeralds. I am here so I can learn to unlock my full potential, the power I know I have, but am incapable of utilising." Shadow didn't mention his inhibitor rings. The last thing they needed to know was that there were rings around his wrists and ankles that restricted his use of Chaos Energy, and when he removed them he would get a major power boost.

Crimson seemed to be happy with this answer, as he tilted his head with a grin. "I see, I see." Crimson gave a quick glance at Sage who was behind Shadow, before turning his attention back to the hedgehog. "How good are you at using Chaos Energy _without _the emeralds?"

Contrary to popular belief, Shadow was actually capable of using Chaos Energy without an emerald on him. He liked to carry one everywhere he went, to give off the impression that he wouldn't have access to the energy without the emerald. That way, if the situation was dire and the Chaos Emeralds were out of the picture, the enemy would expect Shadow to be powerless, and would be unprepared for a nasty surprise.

Now, however, Shadow felt it was unnecessary to hold back this information. "How am I supposed to give you that information? Rate my Chaos Energy use on a scale of 1-10?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

Crimson grinned. "Of course not." The red Black Arm then snapped his fingers, and Shadow felt a Chaos Spear pierce into his back, drawing blood, and was sent flying to the other end of the room.

Before Shadow got up, he felt a pair of claws pin him down on his shoulders. Shadow was expecting to see Crimson on top of him, but instead he saw Sage glaring down at him, with his teeth bared in a snarl.

Shadow was pissed at himself for not being prepared for an attack. He quickly send a jolt of Chaos Energy through Sage's body, while the Black Arm gritted his teeth in pain, he loosened his grip. Shadow used this opportunity to throw the Black Arm off. He quickly activated his rocket boots and flew up into the air. He charged a beam of Chaos Energy, and sent it down on Sage who was still lying on the ground. It beamed down for a while, and when it faded away it left a large crater in the floor, but Sage was nowhere to be found.

Shadow quickly whipped around, and sure enough he caught Sage's leg before it had manged to swing around and kick him in the back of the head. Shadow let out a "hmph," he had used that tactic so many times that he had practically invented it. Letting people think they've defeated you, and then teleporting behind them to kick them was the oldest trick in the book.

Shadow swung Sage around a few times before tossing him to the far end of the room. He expected Sage to collide against the wall with a thud, but somehow Sage managed to materialise a disc shaped platform of Chaos Energy for him to land on. It was an odd sight, to see this Black Arm standing on a disc in the middle of the air. Shadow blinked, he wasn't aware that was something someone could do with Chaos Energy.

More platforms began to appear in the air. They were all set up in different locations and angles. Sage suddenly turned into a yellow blur of Chaos Energy as he quickly bounced himself off the platform. He shot himself between them, jumping from one to another. When Shadow was in his path, Sage would charge into him with an aura of burning Chaos Energy. Shadow found himself unable to dodge, not that he wasn't fast enough to avoid the attacks, but rather he was too shocked at the speed of which Sage was moving to move out of the way. He lost count of how many times he'd been hit. Twenty? Thirty, perhaps? He began to taste the metallic taste of blood stirring in the back of his mouth.

Sage must have had enough of this game, as he drop kicked Shadow down on the ground. Shadow hit the ground with a thump. Sage didn't seem to want to end the fight yet though, as he moved his arms up in a slow motion. Energy seemed to be growing out of the ground like long vines surrounding Shadow. The hedgehog had just manged to gain enough strength and started pushing himself on the ground. Before he could get up, however, these vines wrapped around him, so he became wrapped in some kind of Chaos Energy cocoon. It then grew to an unbearable temperature, and shot through Shadow's body with scorching heat. He let out a long scream of pain that was inaudible to everyone else.

The energy around him eventually died down, turning in to nothing but little sparks on the ground. Shadow gasped for breath for a while. He didn't realise Chaos Energy could be so.. _painful. _It was probably due to the fact he was rarely on the receiving end, as he'd usually be the one using Chaos Energy against others. He tried to thrust himself up with his arms, but after some trembling they soon gave way, leaving Shadow limp and panting on the floor.

Sage glanced at Shadow with disgust before looking back at Crimson. "There you have it, my lord. He's pathetic, do what you like with that information."

Someway, somehow, this lit a new spark inside Shadow. His eyes focused sharply on Sage, and rage boiled underneath his skin. The Black Arm hadn't exactly gone unharmed, he had a few cuts all over, and a nasty purple looking bruise on his left leg, yet he still thought he could stand there mocking him.

_I'll teach you humility you arrogant bastard!_

With this new found, rage-fuelled energy awakening in him, he finally manged to push himself off the ground. His legs trembled and he swayed slightly, but it didn't matter, he was still standing. Sage appeared to be taken aback, but his eyes soon filled with malice. "Why must you make yourself look like a fool even more? You've already lost!" he hissed.

Shadow couldn't help but laugh quietly to himself. He took in a deep, ragged breath. "Chaos.." dark red energy began to circle him, and Sage looked on with a strange mixture of loathing and confusion. "BLAST!"

The other Black Arms in the room gasped. Previously, they had been standing in the centre of the room, not being caught up in the middle of the fight due to the fact it mainly took place in the air. Now they were in the way of the crossfire, and Daisy flinched as she activated a force field bubble around herself, Bramble, Maple, and Crimson. She had manged to do it just in time as a blinding red filled the room. Shadow felt a smile slowly creep across his face as he heard Sage's screeches above the roaring energy. Shadow released all the energy he could, letting it radiate off of him uncontrollably, eventually Sage's screams died out under the noise of the blaring energy.

Shadow felt himself becoming short of breath, and he stopped pulsing energy out of him. The red in the room faded away and died out. Daisy put down the force field and panted with exhaustion, she'd clearly had a hard time holding up the force field during that attack. Bramble was staring at Shadow in shock, his mouth slightly agape. Crimson and Maple had huge grins on their faces, a reaction Shadow did not expect after he just beat up the Chaos Guider.

Crimson suddenly burst into laughter. He went round to pat Shadow on the back. "Well done!" he exclaimed in fascination. "I can't say I expected you to win!"

If Crimson said anything else, Shadow didn't hear it. His adrenaline rush soon decided to dissipate. Everything became blurry and there was a ring in his head. All voices became nothing more than murmurs. The blurs were slowly but surely becoming darker but there was a faint touch he could feel on his back. An unexpected surge of energy spread through his body, it was a strange combination between soothing and intense that Shadow didn't even know was possible. Everything became normal again, his vision and hearing returned and the ringing in his head stopped. He realised the taste of blood in his mouth was gone and looked down on his arm to find no cuts or bruises. It was like the fight had never happened. He twisted his head around to see Daisy smiling at him. "You feel okay now?"

"Y-yes." Shadow was impressed by her healing abilities, and was gazing in awe at his now uninjured arm. Daisy quickly ran over to Sage, who was moaning and writhing in agony on the floor. Daisy touched him, and his body glowed with a soft yellow aura. After a few seconds, she removed her hand and the aura faded. Sage quickly stood up, and leapt towards Shadow, enraged. "You fool! If you think you're going to win fights by just performing Chaos Blasts, you are very wrong!" he snarled.

"Let it go, Sage." Maple's voice was coaxing. "This is more of an achievement if anything." She lightly stroked the tip of Shadow's ear with her claw. "You're impressive." she praised. Her dark blue eyes stared deep into Shadow's red ones.

Bramble said nothing, he seemed to be deep in thought, not really looking at what was going on around him. He then jumped as Crimson let out a yowl of triumph. "Wahoo! Isn't this wonderful? Shadow has finally returned to us! He's finally come to lend his power to us!" Crimson almost sounded like he was about to tear up.

Crimson grinned at Shadow. "You're going to love it here." Crimson flicked his tail. "I think this calls for a meal!" Crimson announced happily. "It's like a family reunion!"

Shadow was surprised at this. He thought Black Arms didn't need to eat. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to question Bramble through the hive mind.

_I thought you all didn't need to eat. You're all immortal, aren't you?_

_Yes we are, food and water, at least on our planet, replenishes our energy, allowing an overall greater access to Chaos Energy and much easier use. Sleeping does this as well. Crimson, however, has decided to not let other Black Arms access to this._

_Didn't he just say we're about to have a meal?_

_Yes, but food and water is only now reserved for the higher circle. Those at the top of the hierarchy, so that includes Crimson, Sage, Maple, Daisy and I._

_How come you're in the higher circle? _

_Because I get my hands dirty, I do the work he doesn't want to._

_I suppose you use your position to spy?_

_Exactly._

_Why not leave it up to Daisy if she's also of higher status?_

_She's the Chaos Spirit. She's in charge of healing and connecting with our ancestors. She's often kept away in her cave unless she's needed. For years, the idea has been the Chaos Spirit needs to be kept away so she isn't 'tainted' by the outside world._

_What's with this whole communicating with your ancestors thing?_

_You're about to walk into a wall._

_Wha-? _Sure enough, the wall was right in front of his face. He quickly diverted his feet towards the spiral staircase, hoping no one noticed how close he was to colliding with the wall. Shadow found it hard to concentrate on using the hive mind and doing something else at the same time.

Bramble seemed to notice this. _We'll talk when we're sat down._

Shadow could only follow the rest of the Black Arms down the steps. Daisy appeared to be humming some sort of tune to herself. They came to a small room with one single, long slab of stone in the centre. There wasn't much space around it, the only space being on the far end where a more spherical and smooth rock was. Crimson sat on the rock, and Sage and Maple got down on their knees. Bramble also did this, so Shadow followed next to him. Daisy, however, walked up to Crimson. Crimson somehow made some sort of animal appear in his hand, and dropped it into Daisy's hand. "Thank you, my lord." She bowed, she then teleported away, probably back to her cave.

Crimson then tossed more of these creatures on the table. When one landed on the stone in front of Shadow, he wanted to scream.

It was a chao.

Bramble must have noticed Shadow's pale face and look of horror. _Are you.. okay?_

Shadow gulped. _No, no I'm not. _Shadow couldn't bear the thought of eating such innocent creatures. Not to mention he also couldn't bear the thought of eating in general. The idea of having some mush swim around inside him made Shadow feel very disturbed.

_I suggest you start eating before anyone notices your behaviour. Maple is already staring at you._

Shadow looked over to Maple who was sitting opposite him. She had her elbows on the table, and her chin rested on her hands. She was staring attentively at Shadow through slightly narrowed eyes, with a small smile on her face. This only made him feel more uncomfortable, and he began to sweat profusely.

He averted his gaze to look back at the chao in front of him. He took a deep breath in through his nose and then tore off a bit of the meat. His eyes were tightly closed, as if he were trying to somehow convince himself that he wasn't actually eating the poor thing. His eyes then opened in surprise. There was a pleasant sensation on his tongue. Probably this _flavour _Rouge had once described. There was a nice tingle on his tongue and he went to take another bite, until he saw the blank eyes of the chao staring back at him.

_I hate myself._

_That was.. sudden._

Shadow tore off another bit of meat with his teeth. He hated how nice the flavour was, and after each time he swallowed he was filled with the image of Cream's chao, Cheese. _I want to kill myself._

_Please wait until after you've killed Crimson. _Bramble's tone suggested the comment was a joke, but Shadow wouldn't be surprised if he was half-serious.

_On the subject of death, how come you have ancestors? I thought the whole idea of immortality was that you didn't age or die._

_You're correct, but we choose when we die._

Shadow almost choked on the food he had just swallowed. _You.. choose?_

_I don't think anyone could live for the rest of eternity, they'd probably go insane. No, we decide when we've had enough. We decide to move on. Entire families can choose to go at the same time if they want. The decision of death is something we respect, we're not supposed to oppose._

Shadow was baffled. _When someone chooses to.. how do they die?_

_They take themselves over to the Chaos Spirit's cave, the Chaos Spirit goes to our ancestors and tells them who wants to die. I don't know what happens next, we're not supposed to, but we do know that once the Chaos Spirit has come out, they've now disappeared._

Shadow didn't know what to think. The idea of welcoming death, putting it upon yourself as a choice was something he just couldn't _grasp. _He was so used to fearing it, seeing it as essentially the worst thing that could happen to someone. Shadow flinched as an image of Maria filled his mind.

_Are you okay?_

_Fine._

Shadow saw Bramble's disbelieving look, but the darkling continued on. _They join the rest of our ancestors, and then they work to guide the living, watching over us all._

Shadow felt a sudden pang of longing. He felt overcome by a large desire to see Maria again. To talk to her, confide to her all his troubles and strife. He wanted to see her smile again, to hear her perfect, rhythmic laugh which was like music to your ears. He could only wish that Mobians had the same connection to the dead the Black Arms had.

_Of course, now Crimson is actually murdering his subjects._

Shadow was glad for the slight focus shift, allowing him to try and push Maria out of his mind. _How does he have the power to do that?_

_Did you see the __energy surrounding him in Violet's flashback? It was dark purple; Pure Dark Chaos Energy. Energy you'd only get from the assistance of the Chaos Emeralds. Pure energy is the only way to kill another Black Arm._

_How come Crimson has access to such energy?_

Shadow could hear a growl rumbling in the back of Bramble's throat. _That's what I want to know. My guess is that it came after he absorbed all of the planet's energy._

_How come he was able to do that, anyway? Didn't you guys try to stop him from trying to drain the planet?_

_That's a little hard when most of us our mind controlled._

Shadow blinked. _So that's why all of their eyes look so.. misty._

Bramble sighed, outwardly. This grabbed Crimson's attention. "Something wrong there, Bramble?" he sneered.

"Not at all!" Bramble quickly insisted, as if he had only just realised that Crimson was still in the room.

Crimson nodded briefly before returning to eat.

_Shouldn't Crimson be able to hear us in the hive mind right now?_

_It seems that I forgot to mention that Daisy manages the hive mind. She's created a hive mind where the resistance can talk amongst themselves, with no way of Crimson, or anyone else knowing._

Shadow went to take another bite, but found his teeth colliding with bone. Had he really eaten all of it? He had never felt more guilty in his life as images of chaos with their owners that he had seen on Mobius lingered in his mind.

It seemed like everyone else had finished their chao as well. Everyone stood up except Crimson, and they bowed to him. "Thank you, my lord." Shadow joined in with this well.

Crimson turned and gazed out of the window. The moon could be seen shining faintly behind the fog. The sky was a streaky midnight blue in amongst all the fog and wind. "I suggest you get some rest." Crimson said. "You've got a big day tomorrow."

Shadow didn't know what he meant by this, and Bramble didn't seem to know either as he gave Crimson a confused and half suspicious glance. "Take Shadow with you in your cave, Bramble." He commanded.

"Yes, your honour." Bramble dipped his head, but Shadow didn't like the prospect of staying all night with the Black Arms in an enclosed space. Bramble snapped his fingers, and Shadow felt his body disappearing with Bramble.

* * *

They had teleported into a cave. Unlike Daisy's, this one had absolutely nothing in it. No ivy on the walls, no nothing, but it was a little more spacious. "Welcome to our humble abode." Bramble muttered sarcastically. "There isn't exactly anywhere comfortable to sleep, so you just have to sleep on the floor."

Shadow raised a brow. "What are you going to do about the others?"

Bramble's cheeks turned pale. "R-right, the others." he laughed uneasily. Shadow could hear Bramble's voice making the announcement in the hive mind. _Everything's sorted, come back to the cave._

"Jeez, how long did that take?" Primrose complained. She looked over at Shadow and smiled. "Nice to see you're still in one piece."

Shadow only let out a grunt in response as he crossed his arms. Ivy suddenly appeared in the middle of the cave, followed by Glacier who appeared in the corner. Sun then appeared, but landed on top of Ivy, both of them toppled on top of each other.

"Watch where you're teleporting!" Ivy hissed in annoyance when they were both on the ground.

"Sorry for not knowing exactly where you're going to teleport!" Sun huffed sarcastically.

Ivy then leapt on Sun, and scratched his ear. If Shadow was perfectly honest, he was expecting a genuine fight, but it soon became apparent that they were lightly scratching each other and laughing slightly while doing so.

"Such children." Primrose remarked under her breath while shaking her head, watching the two fully grown men playing.

Shadow felt slightly amused at this, but he quickly turned his attention to Primrose. "Where are Rouge and Omega?"

"They're with Violet. She'll look after them since she's been banished from the camp ever since she called Crimson a quote unquote 'monster'." Primrose explained.

"What do you mean you've left them with Violet?" Shadow exclaimed angrily. "She'll try and attack them!"

"She won't because she knows she'll have me to answer to." Bramble growled, with a hint of an ominous tone. Shadow let out a "hmph," as he wasn't exactly assured at these words.

Ivy and Sun had calmed down by the looks of things. They were now laying on the floor, curled up like dogs next to each other. Sun called out to Shadow, "they'll be fine! And if we found she harmed them in anyway, we can all group together and kill Violet, how does that sound?" he grinned.

"Like a dream come true." Ivy yawned.

"Come on, guys, she's not that bad." Primrose reasoned, also bending down to lay near the boys.

"Hey, she threatened to rip my lungs out and eat them when I was praising her!" Sun said, but he still had a smile on his face.

"Only after you called her 'little'." Primrose pointed out.

"But she is though!"

Primrose lightly punched Sun on the shoulder with a laugh. "Shut up and go to sleep!"

"You're not my mother!"

"I feel like it sometimes." Primrose grinned.

Bramble laid down next to Primrose. "I doubt Shadow wants to hear your conversations tonight." he said

"Okay, _dad._" Sun mocked lightheartedly.

Bramble let out a small laugh. "Seriously now, go to sleep."

Ivy sighed. "G'night then."

"Good night." The rest of the Black Arms replied sleepily in unison. Only Glacier stayed silent, he was curled up in a tight ball with his face facing towards the wall.

Shadow then hesitantly laid down far from the others, without saying good night. He'd slept a few times before, so it wasn't exactly a new experience. Yet the environment must've made him feel out of place. He could only find himself staring at the surrounding walls, thinking about Rouge and Omega. He could only hope they were going to be okay, and that they'd be able to go home as soon as possible.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**YEAH, BOI! SUPER LONG CHAPTER! NOW I NEED FOOD AND SLEEP. XD**

**SO UH.. MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT WRITING AN ACTION SCENE, I'M PRETTY SURE IT NEEDS A FAIR BIT OF WORK, BUT HOW ARE YOU FINDING IT SO FAR?**

**I APOLOGISE FOR THE BIT OF AN EXPOSITION DUMP, I'M NOT TOO GOOD AT SPREADING IT ALL THROUGHOUT THE STORY, BUT I TRIED TO USE SHADOW'S INTERNAL STRUGGLES AND THOUGHTS TO TAKE AWAY THE FOCUS SLIGHTLY FROM ALL THE INFORMATION. BUT HEY, YOU KNOW A FAIR BIT ABOUT THE LORE NOW!**

**THIS WAS ALSO MY FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW SOME REAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE BLACK ARMS TO SHOW THEIR BONDS, IT WAS NICE TO WRITE! I HOPE YOU FOUND IT JUST AS ENJOYABLE!**

**I KNOW I SAY THIS EVERY TIME, BUT REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED! AND EVERYONE THAT HAS SHOWN SUPPORT FOR THIS MEAN SO MUCH TO ME, SO THANK YOU!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


	10. Corruption

Was Bramble having some sort of weird dream? Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Or did Shadow seem to have genuinely grown a Black Arm's tail?

Bramble sat up from his laying position to get a better view. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times, making sure what he was seeing was genuinely real. It seemed it was in fact, very real. The Mobian's rather short tail was now replaced with a long, thin black one with a sharp red tip. Bramble felt utterly baffled by this, and was left to wonder what had happened to cause this. He decided to teleport to Daisy, hoping she'd know what had happened.

* * *

"You're never taking me alive, Crimson!" Daisy growled viciously at Bramble as soon as he appeared. She was then overcome with relief when she saw it was Bramble, and she sighed with a smile on her face. She let out an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry! I thought you were Crimson!"

Bramble eyed her carefully. "There's no need to be so paranoid. You know I won't let him harm any of you."

Daisy averted her gaze "I know, but.. it's scary." she confessed. "He could kill us.. whenever he wants!" her voice trembled.

"I won't let him." Bramble insisted. "I would've thought you'd be less paranoid now that are supposed prophesied hero has come to the save day." Bramble remarked.

Daisy looked at Bramble again, a huge grin on her face. "Of course I'm happy! I couldn't be happier!" she insisted. "But I'm still unsure exactly _how _the events are going to plan out."

Bramble nodded, but he brought the focus of the conversation back to what he came for. "Something rather peculiar has happened to Shadow, he seems to have mysteriously grown a Darkling's tail in the middle of the night.

Daisy's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm joking, obviously." Bramble rolled his eyes. "I suggest you take a look." he added.

She nodded vigorously before teleporting, and Bramble followed her back to the cave.

* * *

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU SCOUNDREL?" Shadow was lashing out at Glacier, the poor Black Arm was squishing himself in the corner of the cave, as if he was hoping the walls would somehow engulf him.

"I don't know what happened!" he managed to say in amongst all his trembling.

"YOU REALLY THINK I BELIEVE THAT? YOU INSOLENT PEST!" Chaos Energy was sparking off of Shadow's body. It was at this moment he noticed Daisy and Bramble. "WHAT ARE YOU ALL PLANNING?" he hissed and glared at them with malice.

"I saw you with your.. new tail, and I got Daisy to figure out what's going on." Bramble explained. "And please step away from Glacier, you'll make him cry."

"Get me Rouge and Omega!" Shadow commanded.

Bramble sighed and disappeared. He appeared again a second later with the rest of Team Dark and Violet.

"What's going on?" Violet growled in annoyance. Her eyes then fell upon Shadow's tail. "What happened to him?" she asked with disdain.

Rouge's voice was faint. "Shadow? What's going on?"

"That's what I want to know!" Shadow huffed with crossed arms.

"You will know if you let me take a look." Daisy pointed out with a smile and tilt of her head.

"For all I know, you could have done this! Why should I trust you?" Shadow became quickly enraged again.

"Why would they transform your tail of all things? Give them _some _credit." Rouge sighed in exasperation.

The amount of Chaos Energy around Shadow only intensified. "Who's side are you on?"

"We're supposed to _all_ be on the same side." Rouge pointed out.

Shadow flicked his ear and let out a "hmph." He took in a deep breath, and turned back to Daisy. "Have a look at it then!" he huffed.

Daisy cautiously approached, she was flinching as if she expected to be attacked. She finally got to where she needed to be, and began to fiddle with Shadow's tail with trembling hands. "Seems like a genuine Black Arm tail." she finally said.

"Will it grow back if we cut it off?" Ivy suddenly asked.

Daisy pouted as she thought for a second. "Try it."

Before Shadow could object, Ivy formed something looking like a knife out of Chaos Energy. He quickly used it to slash into Shadow's tail, cutting it right off. The Mobian winced. "Was that necessary?" he growled.

"For the sake of research, yes." Daisy said, although she was focusing on the area the tail once was. It began to glow, and sure enough it sprouted back again, like it had never been cut off. "It would seem your tail regenerates, just like ours do." she told Shadow, looking up to see the hedgehog's face.

"Great." Shadow said sarcastically through gritted teeth.

"So it seems like we can definitely say it's a tail like ours, but the reason for the sudden change is something I don't know how to figure out." Daisy said apologetically.

_Bramble, Daisy, and Shadow, report to me, we have important issues to_ _discuss._

Crimson's announcement rang through Daisy's head. She was confused, they usually didn't have meetings in the morning. Daisy prayed that nothing bad had happened. "What do you think he wants?" she asked Bramble.

"Might have something to do with the supposed 'big day' Crimson had mentioned." Bramble glanced at Shadow's tail. "How are we going to explain that to Crimson?"

Daisy shrugged uneasily. "We can't really say much, can we?"

"Not really." Bramble's voice was not much more than a breath. "But Crimson will want a better explanation."

"He'll just have to shut up and deal with it." Shadow then teleported away. Soon after, Daisy and Bramble followed.

* * *

They kneeled by the table once again, while Crimson was sitting on his throne. A grin spread on his face when he saw Shadow. "We have some-" the red Darkling's gaze fell upon Shadow's tail, and his eyes widened in shock. "What the heck happened?"

Shadow glared at Crimson. "That's what I want to know."

Crimson turned his attention to Daisy. "Is this the start of a full transformation?" he asked, with what sounded like an eager tone.

Shadow's face became pale. He sure hoped that this wasn't a part of an entire transformation. He didn't want to be a Black Arm, he was perfectly fine as a hedgehog. The thought made his head whirl.

"I honestly don't know." Daisy shook her head, her voice trembling slightly.

Sage glared at Shadow suspiciously, but Maple sat up straighter, looking intrigued. Shadow didn't want to know what she was thinking.

"Regardless of these recent developments," Crimson continued on, "we have more important matters to deal with. Watching you fight yesterday was rather enthralling, I must admit. You have more control over Chaos Energy than I thought you would due to your Mobian body. You can pull of Chaos Blasts like its nothing, even _I _struggle with that. However, I still believe there's a lot you still need to learn. There's more you need to control before you're _truly_ powerful."

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "That's what I'm here for." He had to remember to keep his facade up. In reality, he was hesitant to learn more about his powers. One thing he'd always been told by Gerald how easily it was to get corrupted by power, and he had warned him not to go too deep into it.

"Indeed." Crimson dipped his head. "Bramble, get Ivy for me."

Bramble vanished, and then appeared again with Ivy at his side. The green Darkling had the peculiar misty look in his eyes, and Shadow realised that the Black Arm was pretending to be under Crimson's control like the others.

"As the best fighter amongst us," Crimson began, addressing Ivy, "I want you to train Shadow, he's returned to us, and wants to unlock his full power."

Ivy bowed down, when he spoke, Shadow noticed his voice was forced. "Of course, my lord."

Crimson grinned. "Bramble, you can oversee this, bring anyone you see fit to help."

With one last nod, Bramble stands up and beckons Shadow and Ivy out of the room. They then teleported to an empty space of just rock and fog, far away from the rows of caves. Sun, Primrose, and Glacier also appeared, as Bramble probably told them to come through the hive mind.

They seemed to have stumbled upon the area Violet, Rouge, and Omega had resided. Violet lay 15 feet away from Rouge and Omega, and Rouge was using Omega as a pillow as she slept. Omega's red eyes immediately focused on Shadow's tail.

"Don't say a word." the hedgehog warned before Omega could comment on it.

The misty glow from Ivy's eyes faded, and he began to stretch. "I've been waiting for a good fight!" he grinned.

Primrose walked over to Violet and shook her on the shoulder. "Wake up!"

Violet was actually already awake, she just had her face buried in her hands. She let out a muffled groan.

"There's going to be fighting, so you might as well get up." Primrose warned.

After a moment of hesitation, Violet got up on her feet with a grumble. Omega had poked Rouge on the shoulder until she woke up, and now the bat was frantically asking Omega why Shadow had a Black Arm tail, and all the robot could do was shrug.

Daisy teleported to Bramble's side. "We should have practically the whole day. Crimson isn't planning to check up either."

Bramble nodded and looked away. "Good." There was a pause as Bramble and Daisy stood next to each other, looking straight ahead. He then turned to her. "You should go back to your cave."

"I-I can stay!" she insisted. "I told Crimson I was going to find any prophecies, so he won't come looking for me!"

"You're using that excuse too often, he's going to get suspicious."

Daisy was indignant. "I need to know what's going on! There's no point in me being in the resistance if I don't know the plans!"

Bramble sighed, gazing deep into her eyes. He finally spoke. "We can't risk losing you."

Daisy averted her gaze. "I know." she choked out. She said nothing more and turned her attention to Shadow and Ivy.

Ivy began to circle around Shadow, looking him up and down. Shadow had his fists clenched, expecting to be attacked at any moment. Everyone else stood awkwardly to the side, not really sure of what was going on and giving each other uneasy glances.

Ivy's claw scraped against Shadow's inhibitor ring on his right wrist. "I see what's going on."

"What's going on?"

"These rings must restrict your power. It's been bugging me for a while. I sensed you had a lot of power before, and I mean _a lot_, but something had to be restricting it. Your rings seem to be doing so." Ivy explained. "Although I suppose that's probably for the best because with the amount of power I sense from you, you'd probably blow up if you removed all of them." There was a hint of a chuckle.

Shadow couldn't help but gulp slightly and found himself staring at the rings around his ankles, the rings he refused to take off.

"Before I think you have a chance of defeating Crimson, you need to learn to control energy with some of them off."

Shadow shook his head. "I remove them only when _absolutely necessary!_" he snapped.

He hadn't confessed his fear of his own power to anyone before, but there was always a feeling of fear lingering inside him. Dread was constantly wrapped around his heart, always worrying that one day, his own power will take control of him. The thing that scared him most was that he had no idea what would happen after that, he only knew he'd lose his own consciousness, and he'd become nothing but an empty shell for his own Chaos Energy to do as it pleased.

Not many knew this, maybe even Knuckles was unaware, but Chaos Energy had a mind of its own. 'Chaos Control' was a rather inappropriate name, Shadow had always thought. You didn't control it, but rather it worked _with _you, only if it wanted to. That was why some days his Chaos Energy was weaker than others, some days it just didn't want to comply with him. Even though it might work with him often, it soon became common knowledge that it was always secretly waiting for an opportunity to take over.

Ivy suddenly stepped back, a look of concern on his face. "Chill, dude."

"What?" Shadow raised a brow in confusion, until his cheeks turned pale when he realised he had been in the hive mind the entire time, and everyone had just heard his thoughts.

Daisy came up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "You shouldn't be that scared! Oh, you poor thing!" she exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder and gazing at him with sympathy.

Shadow surprisingly didn't find himself pulling away, but he still stared at her awkwardly. Realisation suddenly swept over him in a comforting wave. These were creatures that might actually understand, maybe he will actually learn more about his powers, instead of it all being a part of facade.

"There's really nothing to be worried about!" Sun insisted, trying to cheer Shadow up.

"Well, I mean.." Primrose began, with teeth clenched and her shoulders shrugging slightly, "it kind of_ is_ a thing to be worried about."

Sun gave her a glare with a weird smile that somehow perfectly managed to communicate: 'you're making it worse, so could you please just shut your mouth!'

Primrose quickly understood and obliged by closing her mouth.

"While it isn't something we often worry about because we know how to not make it happen, we still know that power corruption still indeed, exists. We are all somewhat susceptible to it." Bramble tilted his head.

"Like Crimson." Violet grumbled.

"Crimson was stupid! He brought it upon himself, and now look where we are!" Bramble snapped.

Shadow wanted to ask more, but the Darkling continued on. "Ivy here, is able to use quite a huge amount of Chaos Energy without being corrupted, it's quite admirable, and I've wondered myself about his methods."

Ivy turned to Shadow with a grin. "Don't worry, you'll be safe with me!"

Shadow wasn't exactly sure if he believed these words, although did he really have a choice?

"Look, I know you don't want to do this, but you're going to have take the rings off. We can start with just one! Get you used to it!" The Darkling tried to coax.

Letting out a slow exhale, he spoke. "Fine. Just be warned I'm incredibly weakened after a certain amount of time." Shadow's voice cracked on the words slightly.

Ivy's grin only grew wider. "Then it's about time we changed that."

Glacier's voice sounded out, barely more than a whisper. "I assume it would be best if we moved away?"

"Yeah.. you might get blown up otherwise."

Everyone vanished then, teleporting Rouge and Omega with them before they got to say anything. He felt somewhat relieved that they wouldn't witness this training session. He didn't exactly trust himself.

"I suggest you take that bad boy off then," Ivy gestured to the ring.

Shadow took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. _It's just one_, he kept telling himself, _It's only one ring, you've taken two off before, you shouldn't be worried. _Yet the tremble in his hands as he took off the inhibitor ring was undeniable. He tightly shut his eyes.

There was a large, electrifying burning under his fur, and sure enough he could feel energy bursting from him like a massive flame. Yet for some reason, he refused to open his eyes. Shadow used to be comfortable with taking off two, but his fear of his power had increased over time. Now he was at the point where he could barely take off one without feeling petrified. Shadow didn't even have any idea _why _this fear increased, which somehow made it feel a whole lot worse.

"Open your eyes." It was evident Ivy was trying to be gentle, but he couldn't disguise his slight air of impatience.

After a moments hesitation, Shadow forced them open. What was he even expecting to see? All he was met with was Chaos Energy swirling vigorously around him. He could make out Ivy in between all this, he was standing in front of him with one hand on his hips.

"Not that bad, is it?"

Shadow didn't speak, refusing to give the comment the dignity of a response.

White fangs flashed as Ivy grinned. "Send a beam my way, I want to see how powerful it is."

Shadow looked at Ivy like he was crazy, but he slowly raised his arm. Chaos Energy was then shot out of his hand in a large beam, completely engulfing the Black Arm in a bright yellow light. Shadow's mouth was agape as he realised that Ivy didn't even attempt to defend himself. He just stood there, practically embracing the attack with the grin still on his face.

Shadow quickly discontinued the beam. Was this guy insane? Ivy, for some inexplicable reason, didn't even flinch, in fact his smile had become wider. Red eyes focused into Ivy's green ones. They were glowing, and the pupils were narrow, they reminded Shadow of a snake. "Y-yes, this is _power!_" Ivy exclaimed, his voice had an echo and even more of a technological sound to it. Chaos Energy smoked from the edges of his eyes.

Shadow stepped back. _He absorbed my attack._

Ivy's eyes were wild. "_That all you got?_" his voice was raised in challenge and aggression.

Shadow didn't even get a chance to breathe before Ivy sent a large, blaring Chaos Spear into Shadow's chest. Shadow was knocked over by the force, and the energy pierced his skin. After a growl of pain, the hedgehog leapt up into a quickly spinning ball in a charging swirl of energy. He dashed forward into Ivy, leaving a blazing trail of Chaos Energy through the sky. As soon as Shadow came into contact with Ivy, he felt something rip out of his chest. Shadow uncurled from his ball as his limbs began to feel weak, they dangled uselessly. Shadow's vision was starting to blur, but he could clearly see a yellow trail pouring out of his chest. Numbness spread through Shadow's body.

_He's absorbing my energy._

When Ivy was done with this, Shadow dropped down like a helpless rag doll. He could only just about make out the hazy figure of Ivy through his blurry vision.

"_Ultimate life form, huh? Prove it!_" Ivy's voice sounded like there were thousands talking in unison.

* * *

**ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER BOIS! I FEEL LIKE A STEREOTYPICAL VILLAIN, TWIRLING THEIR MOUSTACHE XD**

**WHY HAS IVY APPARENTLY GONE CRAZY? WHY HAS SHADOW GROWN A BLACK ARM'S TAIL? WHY DOES DAISY ALWAYS INSIST ON NOT STAYING IN HER CAVE? WHY IS CRIMSON NOT QUESTIONING ANYTHING? WILL ROUGE AND OMEGA EVER GET TO SAY ANYTHING BEFORE THEY'RE TELEPORTED AWAY AGAIN? FIND OUT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE OF THIS STORY!**

**I'M GONNA DO SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT HERE, AS A RANDOM THING, I'LL GIVE YA SOME FACTS ON MY OCS. DON'T WORRY ABOUT SPOILERS, THIS ALL FOR FUN XD:**

**PRIMROSE HAS MANAGED TO KEEP IVY IN THE FRIEND ZONE FOR ABOUT 9 MILLION YEARS. PRESS F TO PAY RESPECTS TO THE POOR GUY. :'(**

**SUN, BRAMBLE, IVY, AND VIOLET ARE ALL IN THE SAME LITTER, AND THEY HAVE SOME STRONG SIBLING RIVALRIES AND WILL OFTEN RANDOMLY BREAK OUT INTO FIGHTS JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT, ALTHOUGH BRAMBLE HAS BEEN JOINING IN LESS AND LESS WITH THESE COMPETITIONS.**

**GLACIER AND PRIMROSE ARE SIBLINGS IN A SEPARATE LITTER TO BRAMBLE, SUN, IVY, AND VIOLET. THEY HONESTLY DON'T HAVE THAT CLOSE OF A BOND, BUT HAVE MORE OF A MUTUAL RESPECT.**

**GLACIER IS GAY, YEP, BET YA DIDN'T EXPECT A GAY OC XD IT ISN'T A MASSIVE PART OF THE STORY, SO THIS ISN'T REALLY PART OF THIS STORY. BUT I ASSURE ALL YOU LGBTQ+ PEOPLE WILL GET THE REPRESENTATION YOU DESERVE. THAT AND ALSO THE FACT I JUST WANTED TO WRITE A GAY CHARACTER BECAUSE I'D NEVER WRITTEN ONE BEFORE.**

**DAISY WAS THE FIRST CHARACTER I THOUGHT OF, AND I PUT A LOT OF THOUGHT INTO HER CHARACTER. SHE'S GOT A LOT IN STORE XD**

**REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


	11. Training

Shadow blinked a couple of times, just making sure what he was seeing was real. The hedgehog didn't exactly imagine that this would be the way the training session would go. Had Ivy absorbed too much Chaos Energy? Was he corrupted? Shadow shook his head, there was no time to think right now, he needed to fight.

Shadow sent a barrage of Chaos Energy in Ivy's direction, and the Darkling teleported away. Just what Shadow expected. He quickly turned around, expecting Ivy to attempt to attack from behind, but he wasn't there. The Chaos Energy surrounding Shadow then formed into a force field so he would be protected from what Ivy was planning. Shadow was once again aware how easily Chaos Energy was coming to him now that one of his rings was removed, and he shuddered.

A glowing light appeared in the sky, and increased in size and intensity as it began to shoot down towards the ground. It collided with the force field and Shadow struggled to make the force field strong enough to hold it off. The shield began to flicker, and he realised he wouldn't be able to hold off the attack much longer. It eventually disintegrated, and the energy pounded Shadow into the ground, leaving him lying in a crater once the light died down.

Ivy then appeared, one of his hands tightly wrapped around Shadow's throat, and claws just piercing his neck. "_Aw, poor thing,_" Ivy mocked, still with his echoed voice, "_force fields not strong enough?_"

A growl rumbled in the back of Shadow's throat, and he send a charge of Chaos Energy throughout Ivy's body, and Ivy flinched and gritted his teeth. Shadow began to send more, making Ivy's body begin to twitch. Ivy was forced to loosen his grip as he let out a growl of pain.

Shadow used this opportunity to let out an explosion, knocking Ivy off of him and allowing Shadow to stand up. The Darkling landed a fair distance away, he managed to stand up as well, looking a little dazed. "_Wow!_" he exclaimed. "_Maybe I don't have to go easy-_"

Ivy was interrupted as a vigorously swirling bubble of Chaos Energy surrounding him. Shadow's eyes narrowed as he activated it to burn and shock Ivy's body, just like Sage had done to Shadow before. Satisfaction filled Shadow's heart when he heard the faint screams of pain from Ivy It seemed he had executed the attack correctly.

Suddenly, the orb began to grow smaller, and Shadow couldn't fathom why. Shadow prepared another force field in case Ivy was going to attempt to send the attack back, but that didn't happen. The orb died down, leaving Ivy standing with his head down, swaying slightly.

Was he crazy? Absorbing that much energy was bound to make him become corrupted!

The ground began to rumble under Shadow's feet. He looked up at Ivy and saw Chaos Energy sparking off of the Darkling like lightning in all directions.

* * *

Rouge was caught off balance as the ground suddenly began to shake. She fell backwards, but Sun managed to catch her.

"Looks like this fight is getting intense!" Sun grinned. "Are you sure we can't go watch, Bramble?"

Rouge didn't give Bramble the opportunity to reply. "Intense? _Intense_? It sounds like they're trying to kill each other!"

"Quit your whining!" Violet suddenly snapped. "Ivy's not that stupid!"

"And tell me how I'm supposed to believe that!" Rouge's blood boiled with rage.

"Calm down," Bramble's voice was practically a bored monotone. "It's not the first time Ivy's caused earthquakes while fighting."

"Besides! Isn't he the ultimate life form?" Daisy piped up with a smile. "Surely you shouldn't be worried about _his _fighting skills!"

Rouge sighed. "I normally wouldn't be worried for him. But now I see it as Shadow used to be the big fish in a pond with small fish. And now he's in the pond with all the other big fish, and he's gonna have to learn to swim with them without getting eaten by them. So in summary, when he's amongst you guys, I'm very worried!"

"That's an.. interesting way to put it." Primrose remarked.

Bramble turned away to watch the glowing Chaos Energy in the distance. "I suppose the bat's concerns are reasonable enough."

* * *

Ivy suddenly formed a sword and charged forward, slashing at the hedgehog. Shadow had to roll to the side. He leapt into the air to send down a few Chaos Spears, but Ivy used the sword to deflect the spears and sens them flying in the opposite direction.

Shadow began to pant as he came back down on the ground again. His legs felt numb and his arms were trembling. He looked over and saw the inhibitor ring on the ground was flashing repeatedly, telling Shadow his time was up. His knees gave way and he collapsed onto the ground.

Ivy suddenly halted his charge, his face immediately filling with concern. Shadow noticed the glow from Ivy's eyes fade. "Are you okay?" he called in a worried tone as he ran up to Shadow.

"I told you I'm weakened after I've removed my inhibitors for a certain amount of time." Shadow explained, his breathing heavy. Ivy quickly ran over to the ring and popped it back on Shadow's wrist.

"Feel any better now?" Ivy was sweating uneasily.

"Give it a second." Shadow grunted as he pushed himself up off the ground. He swayed unsteadily and Ivy offered his shoulder for Shadow to lean on. Shadow begrudgingly accepted the offer.

They began to walk as Ivy talked again. "So what did you learn?" he asked, his grin returning.

"That you like absorbing my attacks." Shadow grumbled.

Ivy burst into laughter. "That's not what I meant, but I suppose it's true! What I wanted to show you was that it's possible to use a lot of Chaos Energy and not be corrupted! Throughout that whole fight I was still in control of my consciousness, it's why I stopped to help you when I saw you collapse instead of continuing to fight!"

"You've probably had practice."

"Look the first experience I had with Chaos Energy was when I was 5 when I managed to absorb everyone's energy and almost destroyed the entire planet attempting a Chaos Spear, but hey, still not corrupted!"

Shadow blinked a couple of times. "Just because you can do it doesn't mean I can."

Ivy shook his head. "You don't seem to have that much faith in yourself. You shouldn't be worrying! If I can do it, then surely the ultimate lifeform can!" he grinned encouragingly.

Shadow only looked away. There it is once again, everyone assuming he could do anything because he was the ultimate lifeform. Shadow's grip on Ivy's shoulder tightened, and he hoped the strain in his hand would somehow take out his frustrations. He was once proud of his name as the ultimate lifeform. As time went on, however, every time someone died because he failed to protect them, every battle he lost to supposedly more inferior beings, had allowed to Shadow to see what being the ultimate lifeform really was. Just a name. Just a title. A title that came with expectations impossible to live up to.

"Uh.. dude? Are you trying to kill my shoulder, or..?" Ivy was looking down at Shadow's hand.

"Apologies." Shadow muttered. He removed his hand and found he could stand up and walk on his own once again, his strength fully returned.

Ivy smiled. "You're very weird, y'know that?"

"So are you."

"Fair." Ivy shrugged. They eventually became within earshot of the rest of the Black Arms with Rouge and Omega. Rouge ran up to Shadow, and Omega took his time following her.

"What kind of training session were you having? You were causing earthquakes!" She threw her arms up in anger as she shouted.

"Well if we're fighting, you should probably expect some external damages." Ivy pointed out with a shrug.

"_Not earthquakes!_"

"Rouge, calm down, do I look harmed?" Shadow spoke calmly.

"N-no, you don't! B-but-" she spluttered angrily, "ugh! Forget it! Sorry for just being _worried_ about you!"

"You shouldn't be worried. I can handle myself without all your fretting, thank you."

Rouge turned away with a huff. "It's time you shove your ego aside!" Shadow could only stare. If only she knew how his egotistical, aloof exterior was more for show than anything else. Shadow hated how he always used these mannerisms to somehow try to convince himself he was more powerful than he really was. He hated how much his mental state relied on false pretences of confidence.

Ivy looked between the two Mobians and spoke again, probably trying to take the conversation away from the drama. ""Next training session, I'll teach you some techniques to avoid corruption and just some new fighting moves as well while we're at it!"

"T-that's if you get the chance!" Glacier's voice trembled.

Everyone quickly turned towards where Glacier was looking. The unmistakeable figures of Crimson, Sage, and Maple were approaching in the distance.

"Violet, take Rouge and Omega away! Daisy, go back to your cave!" Bramble growled. They followed his orders and soon disappeared.

"Whatever you do, don't act suspicious." Bramble warned everyone.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**OH BOY, DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, I LOST THE DOCUMENT SEVERAL TIMES AND AAAA! ALL SORTED NOW THOUGH!**

**ANOTHER CLIFF HANGER XD BUT NOW THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET QUITE DIFFERENT :3**

**THE NEXT UPDATE SHOULD BE IN A COUPLE OF DAYS! I NOT AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK SO ILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME! **

**REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE GREATLY APRECIATED! THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! IT IS REALLY ENCOURAGING!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


	12. Strategy

"Quick! Make it look like you two were fighting!" Primrose hissed. Shadow then immediately punched Ivy in the face, sending him flying while letting out a startled grunt.

Bramble walked up to Crimson and bowed to him. "Hello, my lord. What brings you here?"

"Training going well?" he asked. His gaze followed Ivy as the Darkling approached, rubbing his cheek where Shadow had punched it.

"Yes. It's coming along sufficiently." Bramble replied. If Crimson knew something was off, he made no sign of it. Only Sage had his eyes narrowed at Shadow and Ivy. Maple looked around lazily, with a slight smirk which she seemed to have permanently ingrained on her face.

Crimson made a piece of paper appear in his hand. "Read this, considering you're the only one here that knows how to read." he said in a nonchalant tone.

Bramble slowly took the paper, eyeing Crimson carefully as he did so. After a pause, Bramble began to read the words on the paper out loud.

_To All Black Arms,_

_We do not know who you all think you are, but we've had enough. You have unnecessarily stolen our resources, and even destroyed one of our planets. Do you not have any shame? Any regrets? You have caused immense starvation and unrest among us, and we will not stand for it._

_This is why we are declaring war. You have three days to return everything you stole to us and work out a sufficient negotiation. If you refuse to comply, we will invade and take over your planet. If you won't end this peacefully with us, then we can take the violent route to._

_We hope you make the right choice, for your sake._

_Sincerely - Leader of the Arsias - Arol_

Bramble's face was pale when he looked back up at Crimson.

Crimson, shockingly, just ended up shrugging. "Oh." he then laughed a little and threw the paper up in the air, disintegrating it with a small beam of Chaos Energy. "For a moment I thought it was something important!"

Bramble's mouth was agape as Crimson turned to walk away. Sage and Maple, however, decided to linger. "As we won't give them what they want, we have to prepare for battle," Sage said stiffly. "You can end training Shadow now. I'm sure fighting in this war will be a more than sufficient way of training him." Sage glared over Bramble's shoulder at Shadow, and the hedgehog met his gaze.

To Shadow's surprise, Sage didn't follow after Crimson, but rather proceeded to stand there, a glare on his face. "Is something wrong?" Bramble asked hesitantly, although still keeping a formal tone.

"I could've sworn I saw a massive blob of black, red, and yellow before." It didn't take Shadow long to figure out Sage was probably referring to Omega. Sage went up right up to Bramble's face. "If I find you're hiding something from me, Bramble, you know what will happen."

A look of concern was plastered on Bramble's face. "I think you're seeing things. I know you work hard, but now everything must be taking its toll. I suggest you get a good sleep." Just for good measure, Bramble patted Sage on the shoulder.

After some confused and angry spluttering, Sage quickly turned around and followed after Crimson. Maple also turned, but only after she winked at Shadow. "I'm looking forward to seeing you in action." her voice was smooth, like butter. Shadow began to feel nauseous.

Once they were out of earshot, Bramble let out a frustrated growl, accompanied with the not so polite gesture of putting his middle finger up in the direction they left. One of Primrose's eyes twitched, and so did her tail. "Three days. Three days! THREE DAYS!" she yowled, an aura of energy began to glow and spark off of her.

"I mean, is this a thing to worry about? I think as soon as they arrive they'll realise they don't want our planet. Just look at this rock!" he exclaimed, indicating to the grey, misty surroundings.

"They don't really want our planet!" Primrose exclaimed. "They just want to see us suffer!"

"What's all this nonsense about three days?" Violet growled, suddenly appearing in front of them.

"Where did you leave Rouge and Omega?" Bramble asked, his eyes widening when he realised they weren't with her.

"Further ahead," Violet practically dismissed his question. "But you still haven't explained-"

"Bring them here." Bramble spoke sternly.

"Why?" Violet sounded surprisingly hostile, with eyes that looked like they could cut glass. "I can't bare to be around them any more! She keeps on asking annoying questions! Even her breathing is annoying!"

Bramble rolled his eyes. "Just get them over here, you know they can't be left on their own."

"They should be capable of protecting themselves!" Violet crossed her arms in a huff.

"They will be at a significant disadvantage if they have to fight off one of us, you know that."

After muttering something under her breath that Shadow couldn't make out, she vanished. She soon appeared again with Rouge and Omega. "Are you happy now?" Violet growled.

Rouge, frankly, looked pissed. "Why did you leave us out there?"

"See!" Violet pointed at Rouge, with her head turned to Bramble. "She's whining! Again!"

"Then don't leave me and Omega in the cold and vulnerable to attack!" Rouge snapped.

"Look, Violet," Bramble began, his patience definitely deteriorating, "you're the best candidate to keep an eye on them. You're not exactly going to be missed when you're banished."

"Y'know, I thought banishment might give me some peace and quiet, but instead I'm stuck babysitting!" Violet didn't seem to want to simmer down.

"Can we bring this conversation back to the matter at hand?" Primrose jumped between them, speaking in a raised voice.

"Yes, what is the current situation?" Violet was still glaring.

Bramble sighed. "The Arsias have decided to take their revenge. We have three days before they attack."

"I knew they were going to fight back eventually. Maybe we'll all finally die." Violet remarked, getting a look of surprise from Sun.

"Why are you all bothered? You're the immortal ones, You're the ones in control of Chaos Energy. Why would fighting these creatures be difficult?" Shadow couldn't understand why they were getting so antsy.

"One word - numbers." Sun shuddered, although this didn't exactly give Shadow a straight answer.

"Put it this way," Bramble decided to expand on Sun's point, "there are about fifty of us, and there's three trillion of them."

Shadow was only capable of staring wide eyed in shock. Three trillion? There were around seven billion Mobians back on Mobius, and that was about as much Shadow could handle. Imagining the thought of a species that were several trillion in numbers almost scared him.

"So as you see, that's quite a glaring problem." Bramble continued on, "I don't even know how we're going to defeat them."

"We need to go all out!" Primrose declared. "The sooner we defeat them and get them to surrender the better! This means Chaos Blasts, Chaos Barrages, and Chaos shocks!" Shadow noticed Ivy grin and rub his hands together.

"**Yes! Total annihilation! Mass destruction**!" Omega suddenly cheered, throwing his arms up.

"If you think you're going to be fighting, think again." Rouge warned sternly while crossing her arms.

Omega suddenly looked dejected, leaving his robot arms to dangle miserably beside him. "Speaking if these two, what are we gonna do with them? The whole planet will end up becoming a battlefield. There's no place for them to hide." Sun pointed out.

"We could just give them to the Arsias, like some kind of apology gift, maybe they'll go away then." Violet suggested with a cruel smile at Rouge and Omega.

"If I find anything happens to them, I am using my so-called prophesied powers to kill you, not Crimson." Shadow growled with a fiercely burning hatred in his eyes. There was no way he was going to let her even touch them. Violet only let out a scoff in response.

Shadow could've sworn tears were building up in the corner of Rouge's eyes as she let out a beaming smile. "I knew you were a good friend!" Rouge exclaimed.

"I'd call our relationship nothing more than acquaintances." Shadow said quickly. He always struggled to actually call someone a friend, not when Maria's death was always weighing so heavily on his mind.

After a slight look of disappointment, she rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Shadow found himself jumping backwards, as Daisy appeared in front of him. "Ah! Sorry! Did I scare you?" she asked woriedly.

"No, just surprised." Shadow responded.

"I know that feeling! In fact, I'm surprised right now!" there were awkward, anxious breaths between each sentence, and her speed of which she was speaking began to intensify. "Maple just informed me about the Arsias and how they plan to attack. I dont have much plants to spare to charge up your energy or even heal you!" She was now speaking frantically, pacing back and forth, ", and then it's my fault if we lose the battle! And I don't want to see you all get hurt! You don't deserve to get hurt! Oh, please tell me you have a plan! You must! Don't you?"

"Daisy, calm down." Bramble said softly. "We've got.. a kind of strategy."

"Well, it does seem fair, the sooner we kick them off the planet with a load of frontal assaults, the less likely their toxic gas will affect us." Primrose concluded, seeming to finally be happy with the plan she came up with.

"Hang on a minute. Toxic gas? Who are these creatures?" Shadow asked, extremely curious as to what they were about to face up against.

"Arsias aren't really threatening on their own, they only fight with things they made out of the resources they have on their planet. Or rather, planets, since they do need multiple considering how many of them there are. However, the air on their planets is toxic to every other species that isn't there own. They carry it with them if they need to fight to spread disease among their enemies." Sun explained.

"Usually they're not very hostile." Primrose added. "But we've provoked them and now we're going to pay the price.

Daisy shook her head. "At least we have.. some kind of plan to defeat them! It's better than none! I'm sure we'll pull through!"

"Need I remind you you still don't know what you're going about them?" Shadow pointed at Rouge and Omega.

Daisy put her finger to her temple in thought. "I suppose they could stay with me in my cave. It makes sense that the cave will be avoided as the fighting should be driven away from camp."

Bramble sighed. "It's the only option we have right now."

"Thank you." Rouge suddenly said. "Thanks for going to such lengths for us."

Bramble then bowed to Rouge. "It's the least thing we could do to help you."

"Aw man," Ivy sounded excited, "I've been waiting for an opportunity to just let loose!"

"If you're going to treat this like playtime, then you can forget it!" Primrose snapped. "They are a genuine threat."

"All the more reason to give it my all." Ivy smirked. "After all, I'll never miss a chance to impress you."

Primrose only glared at Ivy. "I'll only find you impressive when I die."

Ivy flinched, visibly. "Still playing hard to get then?"

"No, I'm just not interested."

"Man, you're stubborn! I always loved that about you though."

"Please shut up."

"I agree with Primrose, I don't care for your love drama." Shadow said, soon finding the whole scenario tiresome.

"Glacier?" Bramble asked suddenly, looking over at the Darkling. "Is everything all right?"

"Hmm?" Glacier responded, as if he'd only just been pulled back into reality. Shadow noticed Glacier's eyes were a darker blue, but this quickly faded. "Yes! Everything is fine, carry on!" Glacier quickly insisted.

Bramble slowly turned back to Primrose. "I need you to rally everyone up, as I highly doubt Crimson and Sage will attempt to."

"Why don't you do it?" Primrose asked with a raised brow.

"I need to speak with Shadow here, alone." he added. Shadow felt slightly annoyed at being held back.

Primrose nodded and with the snap of her fingers, she teleported everyone away. Leaving only Bramble and Shadow.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**THIS IS WEIRD, I'M WRITING THIS ON THE APP, LOL. AA IM SO TIRED XD **

**REVIEWS AND CRITIQUES ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!**

**HAVE A NICE DAY FOLKS!**


End file.
